w-^a>x c^^^^^^^*^^'^'^^^^
THE ROSICRUCIAN
COSMO-CONCEPTION
OR
MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY
AN ELEMENTARY TREATISE UPON
MAN'S PAST EVOLUTION, PRESENT CONSTITU-
TION AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
BY
MAX HEINDEL
Its Message and Mission.
A SANE MIND.
A SOFT HEART.
A SOUND BODY.
SEVENTH EDITION
Twenty -first Tlwusand
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OCEANSIDK. CALIFORNIA
LONDON:
L. N. Fowler, Imperlal Arcade
LuDGATE Circus
Copyright 1920
BY
MRS. MAX HEINDEL
All rights including that of translation reserved.
Permission to copy or translate will be readily given upon
application.
FELLOWSHIP PRESS
MT. ECCLESLA,
OCEAN SIDE, CALIF.
(ilvteh or Cljrist
No man loves God who hates his kind,
Who tramples on his brother's heart and soul;
Who seeks to shackle, cloud, or fog the mind
By fears of hell has not perceived our goal.
God-sent are all religions blest ;
And Christ, the Way, the Truth, the Life,
To give the heavy-laden rest
And peace from sorrow, sin, and strife.
Behold the Universal Spirit came
To all the churches, not to one alone;
On Pentecostal morn a tongue of flame
Round each apostle as a halo shone.
Since then, as vultures ravenous with greed,
We oft have battled for an empty name.
And sought by dogma, edict, creed.
To send our brothers to the flame.
Is Christ then twain? Was Cephas. Paul.
To save the world, nailed to the tree?
Then why divisions here at all?
Christ's love enfolds both you and me.
His pure sweet love is not confined
By creeds which segregate and raise a wa,ll.
His love enfolds, embraces human-kind,
No matter what ourselves or Him we call.
Then why not take Him at His word?
Why hold to creeds which tear apart?
But one thing matters, be it heard.
That brother-love fill every heart.
There's but one thing the world has need to know,
. There 's but one balm for all our human woe ;
There's but one way that leads to heaven above —
That way is human sympathy and love.
Max Heindel.
A WOED TO THE WISE.
The founder of the Christian Keligiun stated an occult
maxim when He said : "Whosoever shall not receive the "
kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter therein"
(Mark x: 15). All occultists recognize the far-reaching
importance of this teaching of Christ, and endeavor to
"live" it day by day.
When a new philosophy is presented to the world it is
met in different ways by different people.
One person will grasp with avidity any new philosophical
effort in an endeavor to ascertain how far it sujiports Jiis
own ideas. To such an one the philosophy itself is of
minor importance. Its prime value will be its vindication
of HIS ideas. If the work comes up to expectation in that
respect, he will enthusiastically adopt it and cling to it
with a most unreasoning partisanship; if not, he will prob-
ably lay the book down in disgust and disaj)pointnient,
feeling as if the author had done him an injury.
Another adopts an attitude of skepticism as soon as he
discovers that it contains something which he has not
previously read, heard, or originated in his own thought.
He would probably resent as extremely unjustified the
accusation that his mental attitude is the acme of self-
satisfaction and intolerance ; such is nevert'ieless the case ;
and thus he shuts his mind to any truth which may possibly
be hidden in that which lie off-hand rejects.
Both these classes stand in their own light. "Set'* ideaa
render them impervious to rays of truth. "A little child"
5
6 A WORD TO THE WISE
is the very opposite of its elders in that respect. It is not
imbued with an overwhelming sense of superior knowledge,
nor does it feel comj)elled to look wise or to hide its
nescience of any subject by a smile or a sneer. It is frankly
ignorant, unfettered by preconceived oi)inions and therefore
entiiwnfJi/ teachable. It takes everything with that beauti-
ful attitude of trust which we have designated "child-like
faith," wherein there is not the shadow of a doubt. There
the child holds the teaching it receives until proven or
disproven.
In all occult schools the pupil is first taught to forget
all else when a new teaching is being given, to allow neither
preference nor prejudice to govern, but to keep the mind
in a state of calm, dignified waiting. As skepticism will
blind us to truth in the most effective manner, so this calm,
trustful attitude of the mind will allow the intuition, or
"teaching from within." to become aware of the truth con-
tained in the proposition. That is the only way to culti-
vate an absolutely certain perception of truth.
The pupil is not required to believe off-hand that a
given object which he has observed to be white, is really
black, when such a statement is made to him ; but he must
cultivate an attitude of mind which "believeth all things"
as possible. That will allow him to put by for the time
being even what are generally considered "established
facts," and investigate if perchance tjiere be another
viewpoint hitherto unobserved by him whence the object
referred to would appear black. Indeed, he would not
allow himself to look upon anything as "an established
fact," for he realizes thoroughly the importance of keeping
his mind in the fluidal state of adaptability which charac-
terizes the little child. He realizes in every fibre of his
bping that "now we see through a glass, darkly." and
A WORD TO THE WISE 7
Ajax-like he is ever on the alert, yearning for "Light,
more Light."
The enormous advantage of such an attitude of mind
when investigating any given subject, oljject or idea must
be apparent. Statements which appear positively and
unequivocally contradictory, which have caused an immense
amount of feeling among the advocates of opposite sides,
may nevertheless be capable of perfect reconciliation, as
shown in one such instance mentioned in the present work.
The bond of concord i.f only discovered hi/ flic nprn mind.
however and though the present work may be found to
differ from others, the W'riter would bespeak an impartial
hearing as the basis of subsequent judgment. If the book
is "weighed and found wanting," the writer will have no
complaint. He only fears a hasty judgment based upon
lack of knowledge of the system he advocates — a hearing
wherein the judgment is "wanting" in consequence of
having been denied an impartial "weighing." He would
further submit, that the only opinion worthy of the one
who expresses it must be based upon Tcnoudedge.
As a further reason for care in judgment we suggest
that to many it is exceedingly difficult to retract a hastily
expressed opinion. Therefore it is urged that the reader
withhold all expressions of either praise or blame until
study of the work has reasonably satisfied him of \\.s merit
or demerit.
The Rosicrueian Cosmo-conception is not dogmatic,
neither does it apix>al to any other authnritv than the
reason of the student. Tt is not controversial, but is sent
forth in the hope that it may help to clear some of the
difficulties which have lieset the minds of students of the
deeper philosophies in the past. Tn order to avoid serious
misunderstanding, it should be firmly impressed upon the
8 A WOKI) TO THE WISE
mind of the student, liowover, that there is no infallible
rovelation of this complicated subject, which includes
everything under the sun and above it also.
An infallible exposition would predicate omniscience
upon the part of the writer, and even the Elder Brothers
tell us that they are sometimes at fault in their judgment,
so a book which shall say the last word on the World-
Mystery is out of the question, and the writer of the present
work does not pretend to give aught but the most ele-
mentary teachings of the Rosicrucians.
The Rosicrucian Brotherhood has the most far-reaching,
the most logical conception of the World-Mystery of which
the writer has gained any knowledge during the many
years he has devoted exclusively to the study of this
subject. So far as he has been able to investigate, their
teachings have been found in accordance with facts as he
knows them. Yet he is convinced that the Eosicrusian
Cosmo-conception is far from being the last word on the
subject ; that as we advance greater vistas of truth will o])en
to us and make clear many things which we now "see
through a glass, darkly." At the same time he firmly be-
lieves that all other philosophies of the future will follow
the same main lines, for they appear to be absolutely true.
In view of the foregoing it will Ix? plain that this book
is not considered by the writer as the Alpha and Omega,
the ultimate of occult knowledge, and even though it is
entitled "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-conception," the writer
desires to strongly emphasize that it is not to be under-
stood as a "faith once for all delivered" to the Rosicrucians
by the founder of the Order or by any other individual.
It is emphatically stated that this vorl- embodies: only the
ivriter's understanding of the Eosirrucinn teachings con-
cerning the World-Mystery, strengthened by his personal
A WORD TO THE WISE y
investigations of the inner Worlds, the ante-natal and
post-mortem states of man, etc. The responsibility up-
on one who wittingly or unwittingly leads others astray
is clearly realized by the writer, and he wishes to guard
as far as possible against that contingency, and also to
guard others against going wrong inadvertently.
What is said in this work is to be accepted or reject-
ed by the reader according to his own discretion. All
care has be^n used in trying to make plain the teach-
ing; great pains have been taken to put it into words
that shall be easily understood. . For that reason only
one term has been used throughout to convey each idea.
The same word will have the same meaning wherever
used. When any word descriptive of an idea is first
used, the clearest definition possible to the writer is
given. None but English terms and the simplest lan-
guage have been used. The writer has tried to give as
exact and definite descriptions of the subject under con-
sideration a^ possible; to eliminate all ambiguity and
to make everything clear. How far he has succeedeu
must be left to the student to judge; but having used
every possible means to convey the teaching, he feels
obliged to guard also against the possibility of this work
being taken as a verbatim statement of the Rosicrucian
teachings. Neglect of this precaution might give undue
weight to this work in the minds of some students. That
would not be fair to the Brotherhood nor to the reader.
It would tend to throw the responsibility upon the
Brotherhood for the mistakes which must occur in this
as in all other human works. Hence the above warning.
10 A WORD TO THE WISE
During the four years which have elapsed since the
foregoing ])ai-agraphs wore written, the writer has con-
tinued his investigations of the invisibh' worlds, and
experienced the expansion of consciousness relative to
these realms of nature which comes by practice of the
precepts taught in the Western Mystery School. Others
also who have followed the method of soul-unfoldment
herein described as particularly suited to the Western
peoples, have likewise been enabled to verify for them-
selves many things here taught. Thus the writer's under-
standing of what was given by the Elder Brothers has
received some corroboration and seems to have been
substantially cori-ect. therefore he feels it a duty to state
this for the encouragement of those who are still unable
to see for themselves. •
If we had said that the vital body is built of pmm.s
instead of points, it would have been better, for it is
by refi-action through these minute prisms that the color-
less solar fluid changes to a rosy hue as obsei"\'ed by
other wi'iters beside the author.
Other new and important discoveries have also been
Fiiade; for instance, we know now that the Silver Cord
is grown anew in each life, that one part sprouts from
the seed atom of the desire body in the great vortex of the
liver, that the other part grows out of the seed atom of
the dense body in the heart, that both parts meet in
the seed atom of the vital body in the solar plexus, and
that this union of the higher and lower vehicles causes
the (juickening. Fui'ther development of the cord be-
tween the heart and solar plexus during the first seven
years has an important bearing on the mj'stery of child-
life, likewise its fuller growth from the liver to the
solar plexus, which takes place during the second septe-
nai-y period, is a contributory cause of adolescence.
Completion of the Silver Cord marks the end of child-
life, and fi-om that time the solar cncrgj' which enters
through the spleen and is tinted by refraction through
the prismatic seed atom of the vital body located in the.
solar plexus, commences to give a distinctive and indi-
vidual coloring to the aura which we observe in adults.
LIST OF CONTENTS.
PART I.
Man's Present Constitution and Method of Development.
Frontispiece, Diagram 1(3, The Lord's Prayer.
A Word to the Wise 5
Tiie Four Kingdoms, diagram 16
Introduet ion 17
Chapter I. Tiie Visible and Invisible Worlds 24
Chemical Region of the Physical World 29
Etheric Region of the Physical World :^4
The Desire World ' 38
The Worl.l of Thought 48
Diagram 1. The Material World a Reverse Reflection
of the Spiritual Worlds 52
Diagram 2. The Seven Worlds 54
Chapter TI. The Four Kingdoms 56
Diagram 3. The Vehicles of the Four Kingdoms 73
Diagram 4. The Consciousness of the Four Kingdoms. . 74
Chapter III. Man and the Method of Evolution.
.Activities of Life; Memory antl Soul-growth 87
The Constitution of the Seven-fold Man 88
Diagram 5. The Three-fold Spirit, the Three-fold Body
and the Three-fold Soul 95
Death and Purgatory 96
Diagram .'> ' •'.. The Silver Cord 98
The Borderland 112
The First Heaven 1 1 :'.
The Second Heaven 121
The Third Heaven 129
Prejiarations fiu" Rebirth 133
Birth of the Dense Body 139
Birth of the Vital Bo.ly and Crowth 141
Birth of the Desire Body and Puberty 142
Birth of the Mind and Majority ". 142
The Blood; the Vehicle of the Ego 143
A Life Cycle (diagram) 146
Chapter IV. Rebirth and the Law of Consequence 147
Wine as a Factor in Evolution 165
A Remarkable Story 172
11
12 CONTENTS.
PART II.
COSMOGENESIS AND AXTHROPOQENESIS.
Chapter Y. The Relation of Man to God 177
Diagram 6. The Supremo Roing, the CoHmic Planes
and God 178
Chapter YT. The Si-heme of Evolution.
The Bojjiiining 182
The Seven Worlds 186
The Seven Periods 188
Diagram 7. The Saturn Period 193
Chapter YIT. The Path of Evolution 194
Revolutions and ("osmic Nights 195
Diagram 8. The Seven WorMs. Seven Globes and
Seven Periods 197
Chapter YTIT. The Work of Evolution.
Ariadnes Thread 201
The Saturn Period 204
Recapitulation 208
The Sun Period 209
The Moon Period 213
Diagram 9. The Twelve Creative Hierarchies 221
Chapter TX. Stragglers and Newcomers 223
("lasses of Beings at the Beginning of the Moon Period 226
Diagram 10. Classes at the Beginning of Earth Period 230
Chapter X. The Earth Period 233
Saturn Revolution of the Earth Period 236
Sun Revolution of the Earth Period 240
Moon Revolution of the Earth Period 242
Rest Periods Between Revolutions 243
The Fourth Revolution of the Earth Period 245
Chapter XT. Genesis and Evolution of Our Solar Svstem.
Chaos ' 246
The Birth of the Planets 252
Diagram. Vibrations 254
Diagram 12. Man's Past, Present and Future Form. . 257
Chapter XII. Evolution on the Earth.
The Polarian Einieh 261
The Hyperborean Kpuch 262
The Moon ; the Kighth Sphere 264
The Lemurian Epoch 265
CONTENTS. * 13
Birth of the Individual 266
Separation of the Sexes 267
Influence of Mars 268
The Races and Their Leaders 270
Influence of Mercury 273
The Lcmurian Race 275
The Fall of Man 282
The Lucifer Spirits 286
The Atlantean Epoch ^ 291-
The Aryan Epoch ' 304
The Sixteen Paths to Destruction 306
Chapter XIII. Back to the Bible 308
Chapter XIV. Occult Analysis of Genesis.
Limitations of the Bible 317
In the Beginning 321
The Nebular Theory 322
The Creative Hierarchies 32.5
The Saturn Period 327
The Sun Period, the Moon Period 328
The Earth Period 329
Jehovah and His Mission 333
Involution, Evolution and Epigenesis 336
A Living Soul ? 344
Adanr.s Rib 346
Guardian Angels 347
Mixing Blood in Marriage 352
The Fall of Man 360
Diagram 13. The Beginning and End of Sex 364
PART in.
Man's Future Development and Ixitiatiox.
Diagram. The Seven Davs of Creation 366
The Evolution of Religion 367
Jesus and Christ -Jesus 374
Diagram 14. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit 37"
Not Peace but a Sword 383
The Star of Bethlehem 3S,S
The Heart an Anomaly 393
The Mystery of Golgotha 400
The Cleansing Blood 406
Chapter XV. Christ and His Mission.
Diagram.* "As Above, so Below" 410
Chapter XVI. Future Development and Initiation.
The Spven Days of Creation 411
Diagram 15. The Syinl)olism of the (aduces 413
Radiates, Mollusks, Articulates and Vertebrates 416
Spirals within Spirals... 420
14 ' CONTENTS.
Alcheniv and Soulgrowth 421
The Creative Word 425
Chapter XVII. The Method of Acquiring First-Hand
Knowledge.
The First Stops 430
Western Methods for Western People 437
The Science of Nutrition 441
Table of Food- Values 450
The Law of Assimilation 451
Live and Let Live 460
The Lord 's Prayer 462
The Vow of Celibacy 467
The Pituitary Body and the Pineal Gland 473
Diagram 17. Path of the Unused Sex Currents 475
Esoteric Training 477
How the Inner Vehicle is Built 480
Concentration 486
Meditation 489
Observation 492
Discrimination 493
Contemplation 494
Adoration 495
Chapter XVIII. The Constitution of the Earth and Volcanic
Eruptions 498
The Number of the Beast 499
Diagram 18. The Constitution of the Earth 509
Chapter XIX. Christian Bosenkreuz and the Order of Rosi-
crucians 515
Initiation 524
The Rosicrucian Fellowship 530
Kays from the Rose Cross 533
Symbolism of Rose Cross 534
Index 539
The Healing Power 599
PART I
Man's Present Constitution and
Method of Development
INTEODUCTIOK
THE Western world is undoubtedly the vanguard of
the human race, and, for reasons given in the fol-
lowiDg pages, it is held by the Eosicrucian that
neither Judaism nor "popular Christianity," but true
Esoteric Christianity is to be its world-religion.
Buddha, great, grand and sublime, may be the "Light
of Asia," but Christ will yet be acknowledged the "Light
of the World/' As the sun outshines the brightest star
in the heavens, dis])els every vestige of darkness and gives
life and light to all Ixiings, so, in a not too distant future,
will the true religion of Christ supersede and obliterate all
other religions, to the eternal benefit of mankind.
In our civilization the chasm that stretches between
mind and heart yawns deep and wide and, as the mind flies
on from discovery to discovery in the realms of science,
the gulf becomes ever deeper and wider and the heart is
left further and further ])eliind. The mind loudly demands
and will be satisfied with nothing less than a materially
demonstrable explanation of man and his fellow-creatures
that make up the plienomenal world. The heart feels in-
stinctively that there is somofhing greater, and it yearns
for that which it feels is a higher truth than can be
grasped by the mind alone. The human soul would fain
soar upon ethereal pinions of intuition ; would fain lave in
the eternal fount of spiritual light and love; but modern
scientific views have shorn its wings and it sits fettered
17
18 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
and mute, unsatisfied longings gnawing at its tendrils as
tlie vulture at Prometheus' liver.
Is this necessary? Is there no eoiniuon ground iijmn
which head and heart may meet, each assisting the other,
each by the help of the other becoming more efToctive in
the search for universiil truth, and each receiving etjual
satisfaction ?
As surely as the pre-existing light created the eye whereby
the light is seen; as surely as the primordial desire for
growth created the digestive and assimilative system for
the attainment of that end ; as surely as thought existed
before the brain and built and still is building the brain
for its expression; as surely as the mind is now forging
ahead and wringing her secrets from nature by the very
force of its audacity, just so surely will the heart find a
way to burst its bonds and gratify its longings. At present
it is shackled by the dominant brain. Some day it will
gather strength to burst its prison bars and become a power
greater than the mind.
It is equally certain that there can be no contradiction
in nature, therefore the heart and the mind must be capa-
ble of uniting. To indicate this common ground is pre-
cisely the purpose of this book. To show where and bow
the mind, helped by the intuition of the heart, can probe
more deeply into the mysteries of being than either could
do alone; where the heart, by union with the mind, can he
kept from going astray; \rliere each can have full scope
for action, neither doing violence to the other and where
both mind and heart can be satisfied.
Only when that co-operation is attained and perfected
will man attain the higher, truer understanding of himself
and of the world of which he is a part; only that can give
him a broad mind and a great heart.
INTRODUCTION 1J5
At every birth what appears to be a new life comes
among us. We see the little form as it lives and grows,
becoming a factor in our lives for days, months, or years.
At last there comes a day when the form dies and goes to
decay. The life that came, whence we know not, has
passed to the invisible beyond, and in sorrow we ask our-
selves, Whence came it? Why was it here? and Wliither
has it gone?
Across every threshold the skeleton form of Death
throws his fearsome sliadow. Old or young, well or ill,
rich or poor, all, all alike must ])ass out into tliat sliadow
and throughout tbe ages has sounded the piteous cry for
a solution of the riddle of life — the riddle of death.
So far as the vast majority of people are concerned the
three great questions, Whence have we couic? AVhy are we
here? Whither are we going? renuiin unanswered to this
day. It has unfortunately come to l)e tlie popularly ac-
ce])ted opinion tliat nothing can be definitely known about
these uuitters of deepest interest to humanity. iNTotliing
coidd Ije more erroiu^ous tlian such an idea. Each and
every one, without exception, may ])ecome capable of obtain-
ing first-hand, definite inforniation upon tliis subject; may
personally investigate the state of the human spirit, both
before birth and after death. There is no favoritism, nor
are s]x?cial gifts recjuired. Each of us has inherently the
faculty for knowing all of 'hese matters ; but ! — Yes, there
is a "but," and a "P.rT"' that must l)e written large. These
faculties are present in all, though latent in most jDeople.
It requires persistent effort to awaken them and that seems
to 1)0 a powerful deterrent. If these faculties, "awake and
aware," could l)e had for a monetary consideration, even if
the price were high, many people would pay it to gain such
immense advajitage over tlicir fellow-men, but few indeed
20 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
are those willing to live the life that is required to awaken
them. That awakening comes only hv patient, persistent
effort. It cannot l)e bought ; there is no royal road to it.
It is conceded that practice is necessary to learn to play
the piano, and that it is useless to think of being a watch-
maker without being willing to serve an apprenticeship.
Yet when the matter of the soul, of death and the beyond,
of the great causes of being, are the questions at issue,
many think they know as much as anyone and have an
equal right to express an opinion, though they may never
have given the subject an hour's study.
As a matter of fact, no one unless qualified by study
of the subject should expect serious consideration for an
opinion. In legal cases, where experts are called to testify,
they are first examined as to their competency. The weight
of their testimony will be nil, unless they are found to be
thoroughly proficient in the branch of knowledge regarding
which their testimony is sought.
If, however, they are found to be qualified — by study
and practice — to express an expert opinion, it is received
with the utmost respect and deference; and if the testi-
mony of one expert is corroborated by others equally pro-
ficient, the testimony of each additional man adds im-
mensely to the weight of the previous evidence.
The irrefutable testimony of one such man easily coun-
terbalances that of one or a dozen or a million men who
know nothing of that whereof they speak, for nothing,
even though multiplied by a million, will still remain
nothing. This is as true of any other subject as of mathe-
matics.
As previously said, we recognize those facts readilv
enough in material affairs, but when things beyond the
world of sense, when the super-physical world is under
INTRODUCTION 21
discussion; when the relations of God to man, the inner-
most mysteries of the immortal spark of divinity, loosely
termed the soul^ are to be probed, then each clamors for
as serious consideration of his opinions and ideas regard-
ing spiritual matters as is given to the sage, who by a life
of patient and toilsome research has acquired wisdom in
these higher things.
Nay, more ; many will not oven content themselves with
claiming equal consideration for their opinions, but will
even jeer and scoff at the words of the sage, seek to impugn
his testimony as fraud, and, with the supreme confidence
of deepest ignorance, asseverate that as thej/ know nothing
of such matters, it is absolutely impossible that anyone
else can.
The man who realizes his ignorance has taken the first
step toward knowledge.
The path to first-hand knowledge is not easy. Nothing
worth having ever comes without persistent effort. It can-
not be too often repeated that there are no such things as
special gifts or "luck." All that anyone is or has, is the
result of effort. "Wliat one lacks in comparison with an-
other is latent in himself and capable of development by
proper methods.
Tf the reader, having grasped this idea thoroughly,
should ask, what he must do to obtain this first-hand
knowledge, the following story may serve to impress the
idea, whicli is the central one in occultism:
A young man came to a sage one day and asked, "Sire,
what must I do to become wise?" The sage vouchsafed
no answer. The youth after repeating his question a num-
ber of times, with a like result, at last left him, to return
the next day with the same question. Again no answer wag
given and the youth returned on the third day, still rejjeav
22 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
ing hi-: (luostion, "Sire, what iinist T do to become wise?"
Finally the sage turned and went down to a near-by
river. He entered the water, bidding the youth follow him.
Upon arriving at a sufficient dojith the sage took the young
man by the shoulders and hold him under the water, despite
his struggles to free himself. At last, however, he released
him and when the youth liad regained his l)i'catli the sage
questioned him :
"Son, when you were under the water what did you
most desire?"
"The youth answered williout licsitation, "Air, air!
I wanted air !"
"Would you not rather have had riches, pleasure, power
or love, my son? Did you not think of any of tliese?"
queried the sage.
"No, sire! I wanted air and thought only of air,"" came
the instant response.
"Then," said the sage, "to become wise you must desire
wisdom with as great intensity as you just now desired air.
You must struggle for it, to the exclusion of every other
aim in life. Tt must be your one and only aspiration, by
day and by night. If you seek wisdom with that fervor,
my son, you will surely become wise."
That is the first and central requisite the aspirant to
occult knowledge must possess — an unswerving desire, a
burning thirst for knowledge ; a zeal that allows no obstacle
to conquer it: but the supreme motive for seeking this
occult knowledge must be an ardent desire to benefit hu-
manity, entirely disregarding self in order to work for
others. Unless prompted by that motive, occult knowledge
is dangerous.
Without possessing these qualifications — especially the
latter- -in some measure, any attempt to tread the arduous
INTRODUCTION 23
path of occultism would be a hazardous undertaking. An-
other prerequisite to this first-hand knowledge, however, is
the study of occultism at second-hand. Certain occult pow-
ers are necessary for the first-hand investigation of matters
connected with the pre-natal and post-mortem states of
man, but no one need despair of acquiring information
about these conditions because of undeveloped occult pow-
ers. As a man may know about Africa either by going
there personally or by reading descriptions written by trav-
elers who have been there, so may he visit the super-
physical realms if he will but qualify himself therefor, or
he may learn what others who have so qualified themselves
report as a result of their investigations.
Christ said, "The Truth shall make you free,'" but Truth
is not found once and forever. Truth is eternal, and the
quest for Truth must also be eternal. Occultism knows
of no "faith once for all delivered." Tliere are certain
basic truths which remain, but which may be looked at
from many sides, each giving a different view, which com-
plements the previous ones; therefore, so far as we can
see at present, there is no such achievement possible as
arriving at the ultimate truth.
Wherein this work differs from some philosophical works
the variations are caused ])y difTerence of viewpoint, and
all respect is paid to the conclusions reached and the ideas
set forth by other investisrators. It is the earnest hope of
the writer that the study of the following pages may help
to make the student's ideas fuller and more rounded than
thev were before.
CHAPTEE I.
The Visible axd Invisible AVorlds.
THE first step in Occultism is the study of the invisi-
ble Worlds, These Worlds are invisible to the
majority of people because of the dormancy of the
finer and higher senses whereby they may be perceived, in
the same way that the Physical World about us is per-
ceived through the physical senses. The majority of peo-
ple are on a similar footing in regard to the super-physical
Worlds as the man who is born blind is to our world of
sense; although light and color are all about him, he is
unable to see them. To him they are non-existent and
incomprehensible, simply because he lacks the sense of sight
wherewith to perceive them. Objects he can feel; they
seem real ; but light and color are beyond his ken.
So with the greater part of humanity. They feel, and
see objects and hear sounds in the Physical World, but the
other realms, wliicli the clairvoyant calls the higher Worlds,
are as incomprehensible to them as light and color are to
the blind man. Because the blind man cannot see color
and light, however, is no argument against their existence
and reality. Neither is it an argument, that l^ecause most
people cannot see the super-physical Worlds no one can do
so. Tf the blind man obtains his sight, he will see light
and color. Tf the higher senses of those blind to the super-
physical Worlds are awakened by proper methods, they
24
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 05
also will be able to beliold the Worlds whicli are now hidden
from them.
While many people make the mistake of being incredu-
lous concernino: the existence or reality of the super-sensu-
ous Worlds, there are also many who go to the other ex-
treme, and, having become convinced of the verity of invisi-
ble Worlds, think that when a person is clairvoyant all
truth is at once open to him ; that when one can "see," he
at once "knows all about" these higher Worlds.
This is a great mistake. We readily recognize the fal-
lacy of such a contention in matters of everyday life. We
do not think that a man who was born blind, but has ob-
tained his sight, at once "knows all about" the Physical
World. Xay, more ; we know that even those of us who
have been able to see the things about us all our lives are
far from having a universal knowledge of them. We know-
that it requires arduous study and years of application to
know about even that infinitesimal part of things that we
handle in our daily lives, and reversing the Hermetic
aphorism, "as above, so below," we gather at once that it
must be the same in the other Worlds. At the same time
it is also true that there are much greater facilities for
acquiring knowledge in the super-physical Worlds than in
our present deiise physical condition, but not so great as
to eliminate the necessity for close study and tlie possi-
bility of makini: a mistake in observation. In fact, all the
testimony of reliable and qualified olisen-ers prove that
much more care in observation is needed there than here.
Clairvoyants must first Ix' trained l^efore their observa-
tions are of any real value, and the more proficient they be-
Cijme the more modest are they about telling of what thev
see; the more do they defer to the versions of others, know-
ing how much there is to learn and realizing how little the
26 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
single investigator can grasp of all the detail incident to
his investigations.
This also accounts for the varied versions, which super-
ficial people think is an argument against the existence of
the higiier Worlds. They contend that if these Worlds
exist, investigators must necessarily bring back identical
descriptions. If we take an illustration from everyday
life, the fallacy of this becomes apparent.
Suppose a newspaper sends twenty reporters to a city
with orders to 'Svrite it up." Reporters are, or ought to
be, trained observers. It is their business to see every-
thing and they should be able to give as good descriptions
as can be expected from any source. Yet it is certain that
of the twenty reports, no two would be exactly alike. It is
much more likely that they would be totally different.
Although some of them might contain leading features in
common, others might l)e unique in quality and quantity of
description.
Is it an argument against the existence of the city that
these reports differ? Certainly not ! It is easily accounted
for by the fact that each saw the cit;\^ from his own par-
ticular point of view and instead of these varying reports
being confusing and detrimental, it is safe to say that a
perusal of them all would give a fuller, better understand-
ing and description of the city than if only one were road
and the others thrown in the waste-basket. Each report
would round out and complement the others.
The same is true regarding accounts made by investi-
gators of the higher Worlds. Each has his own peculiar
way of looking at things and can describe only wliat he
sees from his particular point of view. The account he
gives may differ from those of others, yet all be equally
truthful from each individual observer's viewpoint.
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 27
It is sometimes asked, Why investigate these Worlds?
Why is it not best to take one World at a time; to be con-
tent for the present with the lessons to be learned in the
Physical World, and, if there are invisible Worlds why not
wait until we reach them before investigating? '''Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof !" Why borrow niore ?
If we knew without doubt that at some time, sooner or
later, each one of us must be transported to a far country
\rhere, under new and strange conditions, we must live for
many years, is it not reasonable to believe that if we had
an opportunity to learn of that country in advance of our
removal to it we would gladly do so? Knowledge would
render it much easier for us to accommodate ourselves to
new conditions.
There is only one certainty in life and that is — Death !
As we pass into the beyond and are confronted by new
conditions, knowledge of them is sure to be of tlie greatest
help.
But that is not all. To understand the Physical World,
which is the world of effects, it is necessary to understand
the super-physical World, which is the world of causes.
We see street cars in motion and we hear the clicking of
telegraph instruments, but the mysterious force wliich
causes the phenomena remains invisible to ns. We say it
is electricity, but the name gives us no explanation. Wo
learn nothing of the force itself; we see and liear only its
effects.
If a dish of cold water be placed in an atmosphere of a
puflficiently low temperature ice crystals immediately ix^gin
to form and we can see the process of tlieir formation.
The lines along which the water crystallizes were in it all
the time as lines of force but they were invisible until the
water conffealed. The beautiful "frost flowers" on a win-
28 BOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
dowpane are visible manifestations of currents of the hi<]:her
Worlds which operate upon us all the time, unrecognized by
most of us, but none the less potent.
The higher Worlds are thus the worlds of causes, of
forces; and we cannot really understand this lower World
unless we know the others and realize the forces and causes
of which all material things are but the effects.
As to the reality of thoiie higher Worlds compared with
that of the Physical World, strange as it may seem, these
higher Worlds, which to the majority appear as mirages, or
even less substantial, are, in truth, mnch more real and
the objects in them more lasting and indestructible than
the objects in the Physical World. If we take an example
we shall readily see tliis. An architect does not start to
build a house by procuring the material and setting the
workmen to laying stone upon stone in a haphazard way,
without thought or plan. He "thinks the house out."
Gradually it takes form in his mind and finally there
stands a clear idea of the house that is to be — a thought-
form of a house.
This house is yet invisible to all but the architect. He
makes it objective on paper. He draws the plans and
from this objective image of the thought-form the work-
men construct the house of wood, iron, or stone, accurately
corresponding to the thought-form originated by the
architect.
Thus the thought-form becomes a material reality. The
materialist would assert that it is much more real, lasting
and substantial than the image in the architect's mind.
But let us see. The house could not have been constructed
without the thought-form. The material object can be de-
stroyed by dynamite, earthquake, fire, or decay, but the
thought-form will remain. It will exist as long as the
THE VISIBLE. AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 29
architect lives and from it any number of houses similar to
the one destroyed may be constructed. Not even the archi-
tect himself can destroy it. Even after his death this
thought-form can be recovered by those who are qualified to
read the memory of nature, which will l)e dealt with later.
Having thus seen the reasonableness of such Worlds
existing around and about us, and having satisfied ourselves
of their reality, their permanency, and of the utility of a
knowledge concerning them, we shall now examine them
severally and singly, commencing with the Physical World.
Chemical Region of the Physical World.
In the Rosicrucian teaching the universe is divided into
seven different Worlds, or states of matter, as follows:
1— World of God.
2 — World of Virgin Spirits.
3 — World of Divine Spirit.
4 — World of Life Spirit.
5— World of Thought.
6 — Desire World.
7— Physical World.
This division is not arbitrary but necessary, because the
substance of each of these Worlds is amenable to laws which
are practically inoperative in the others. For instance, in
the Physical World, matter is subject to gravity, contrac-
tion and expansion. In the Desire World there is neither
heat nor cold, and forms levitate as easily as they gravitate.
Distance and time are also governing factors of existence in
the Physical World, but are almost non-existent in the
Desire World.
The matter of these worlds also varies in donsitv, the
Physical World being the densest of the seven.
Each World is subdivided into seven Regions or sub-
30 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
divisions of matter. In the Physical WorkI the solids,
li(|ui(ls and gases fonii llie three denser subdivisions, the
remaining four being others of varying densities. In the
other Worlds similar subdivisions are necessary, because the
matter of which they are composed is not of uniform
density.
There are still two further distinctions to Ix" made. The
three dense subdivisions of the Physical World — the solids,
liquids and gases — constitute what is termed the Chemical
Kegion. The substance in this Eegion is the basis of all
dense Form.
The Ether is also physical matter. It is not homogene-
ous, as material science alleges, but exists in four ditferent
states. It is the medium of ingress for the quickening
spirit which imparts vitality to the Forms in the Chemical
Eegion. The four finer or etheric subdivisions of the
Physical World constitute what is known as the Etheric
Eegion.
In the World of Thought the three higher subdivisions
are the basis of abstract thought, hence they, collectively,
are called the Eegion of Abstract Thought. The four
denser subdivisions supply the mind-stuff in which we
embody and concrete our ideas and are therefore termed the
Eegion of Concrete Thought.
The careful consideration given by the occultist to the
characteristics of the Physical World might seem super-
fluous were it not that he regards all things from a view
point differing widely from that of the materialist. The
latter recognizes three states of matter — solids, liquids,
and gases. These are all chemical, because derived from
the chemical constituents of the Earth. From this chem-
ical matter all the forms of mineral, plant, animal, and
man have been built, hence they are as truly chemical as
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WOKLDb 31
the substances which are commonly so termed. Thus
whether we consider the mountain or the cloud that en-
velops its top, the juice of the plant or the blood of the
animal, the spider's thread, the wing of the butterfly or
the bones of the elephant, the air we breathe or the water
we drink — all are composed of the same chemical sub-
stance.
What is it then which determines the conformation of
this basic substance into the multiplex variety of Forms
which we see about us? It is the One Universal Spirit, ex-
pressing Itself in the visible world as four great streams
of Life, at varying stages of development. This fourfold
spiritual impulse molds the chemical matter of the Earth
into the variegated forms of the four Kingdoms — mineral,
plant, animal, and man. When a foi-n has served its
purpose as a vehicle of expression for the three higher
streams of life, the chemical forces disintegrate that form
so that the matter may be returned to its primordial state,
and thus made available for the building of new forms,
"^he spirit or life which molds the form into an expression
of itself is, therefore, as extraneous to the matter it uses
as a carpenter is apart from and personally independent
of the house he builds for his own occupancy.
As all the forms (»f mineral, plant, animal, and man are
chemical, they must logically be as dead and devoid of
feeling as chemical matter in its primitive state, and the
Rosicrucian assert= that thev are.
Some scientists contend that there is feeling in all tissue,
living or dead, to whatever kingdom it helonsrs. Thev in-
clude even the substances ordinarilv classed as mineral in
their categorv of object'^ having feelimr. and to prove their
contentions they submit diagrams with curves of energy
obtained from tests. Another class of investigators teach
32 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
that tliere is no feeling even in the human body, except in
tiie brain, which is the seat of feeling. They say it is the
brain and not the finger which feels the pain when- the
latter is injured. Thus is the house of Science divided
against itself on this as on most other points. The posi-
tion taken by each is partly right. It depends upon what
we mean by "feeling." If we mean simply response to
impacts, such as the rebound of a rubber ball that is
dropj)ed to the ground, of course it is correct to attribute
feeling to mineral, plant, and animal tissue; but if we
mean pleasure and pain, love and hate, joy and sorrow, it
would be absurd to attribute them to the lower forms of
life, to detached tissue, to minerals in their native state.
or even to the brain, liecause such feelings are expressions
of the self-conscious immortal spirit, and the brain is only
the keyboard of the wonderful instrument upon which the
human spirit plays its symphony of life, just as the musi-
cian expresses himself upon his violin.
As there are people who are quite unable to understand
that there must be and are higher Worlds, so there are
some who, having lx3Come slightly acquainted with the
higher realms, acquire the haliit of undervaluing this Phys-
ical World. Such an attitude is as incorrect as that of
the materialist. The great and wise Beings who carry
out the will and design of God placed us in this physical
environment to learn groat and important lessons which
could not be learned under other conditions, and it is our
duty to use our knowledge of the higher Worlds in learn-
ing to the l:)est of our ability the lessons which this mate-
rial world has to teach us.
In one sense the Physical World is a 3ort of model school
or experiment station to teach us to work correctly in the
others. It does this whether or not we know of tlw ex-
THE VISIBLE AND TXVTSIRLE WOKLDS 33
istence of those other worlds, therehy proving the great
wisdom of tlie originators of the plan. If we had knowl-
edge of none but the higher Worlds, we would make many
mistakes which would become apparent only when physical
conditions are brought to bear as a criterion. To illus-
trate : I^et us imagine the case of an inventor working
out his idea of a machine. First he builds the machine in
thought, and in his mind he sees it complete and in oper-
ation, performing most l)eauti fully the work it is designed
to do. He next makes a drawing of the design, and in
doing so perhaps finds that modification in his first con-
ception are necessary. When, from the drawings, he has
become satisfied that the plan is feasible, he proceeds to
build the actual machine from suitable material.
Now it is almost certain that still further modifications
will 1x3 found necessary l)efore the machine will work as
intended. It may be found that it must be entirely re-
modeled, or even that it is altogether useless in its present
form, must be discavdc*! and a new plan evolved. But
mark this, for here is the point : the new idea or plan will
be formulated for the purpose of eliminating the defects
in the useless machine. Had theie been no material ma-
chine constructed, thereby making evident the faults of the
first idea, a second and correct idea woidd not have l)een
formed.
This applies equally to all conditions of life — social,
mercantile, and philanthropic. >rany plans ajijiear ex-
cellent to those conceiving them, and may oven look well
on pa])er. bnt when brought down to tlie actual test of
utility they often fail. That, however, should not discour-
age us. It is true that '"we learn more from our mist^ikes
than from our successes." and the proper light in which
to regard this Phvsical World is as a school of valuable
34 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
experience, in which we learn lessons of the utmost im-
portance.
The Etheric Region of the Physical World.
As soon as we enter this realm of nature we are in the
invisible, intangible World, wliere our ordinary senses fail
us, hence tliis part of the Physical World is practically
unexplored by material !?cionce.
Air is invisible, yet modern science knows that it ex-
ists. By means of instruments its velocity as wind can be
measured; by compiession it can l^e made visible as liquid
air. With ether, however, tliat is not so easy. Material
science finds that it is necespary to account in some way
for the transmission of electricity, with or without wires.
It is forced to postulate some substance of a finer kind
than it knows, and it calls that substance "ether." It does
not really know that ether exists, as the ingenuity of the
scientist has not, as yet, been able to devise a vessel in
which it is possible to confine this substance, which is alto-
gether too elusive for the comfort of the "wizard of the
laboratory." He cannot measure, weigh, nor analyze it
by any apparatus now at his disposal.
Truly, the achievements of modern science are marvel-
ous. The best way to learn the secrets of nature, however,
is not by inventing instruments, but by improving the in-
vestigator himself. Man has within himself faculties
which eliminate distance and com]3ensate for lack of size
to a degree as much greater tlian the power of telescope
and microscope as theirs exceeds that of the naked eye.
These senses or faculties are the means of investigation
used by occultists. They are their "open sesame" in
searching for truth.
To the trained clairvoyant ether is as tangible as are
the solids, liquids, and gasee of the Chemical Eegion to
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 35
ordinary beings. He sees that the vital forces which give
life to the mineral forms of plant, animal and man flow
into these forms, by means of the four states of ether.
The names and specific functions of these four ethers are
as follow:
(1) Chemical Ether. — This ether is both positive and
negative in its manifestation. The forces which cause as-
similation and excretion work through it. Assimilation
is the process whereby the different nutritive elements of
food are incorporated into the body of plant, animal and
man. This is carried on by forces with which we shall
become acquainted later. They work along the positive
pole of the che?nical ether and attract the needed elements,
building them into the forms concerned. These forces
do not act blindly nor mechanically, but in a selective way
(well-known to scientists by its effects) thereby accom-
plishing their purpose, which is the growth and mainte-
nance of the body.
Excretion is carried on by forces of the same kiml. but
working along the negative pole of the chemical ether.
By means of this pole they expel from tlie body the mate-
rials in the food which are unfit for use, or tliose which
have outlived their usefulness in the body and should lie
expurgated from the system. This, like all other proc-
esses independent of man's volition, is also wise, selective,
and not merely mechanical in its operation, as seen, for
instance, in the case of the action of the kidneys, where
only the urine is filtered through when the organs are in
health ; but it is known that when the organs are not in
health, the valua])le albumen is allowed to esca|')e with
the urine, the proper selection not l>eing made because of
an abnormal condition.
(2) Life Ether. — As the chemical ether is thi- avenue
36 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
for the operation of the forces the object of which is the
maintenance of the individual form, so the life ether is
the avenue for the operation of the forces which have for
their object the maintenance of the species — the forces of
propagation.
Like the chemical ether, the life ether also has its posi-
tive and negative pole. The forces which work along the
positive pole are those which work in the female during
gestation. They enable her to do the positive, active work
of bringing forth a new being. On the other hand the
forces which Avork along the negative pole of tlie life ether
ena])lo the male to produce semen.
In the work on the impregnated ovum of the animal
and man, or upon tlie seed of tlie plant, the forces working
along the positive pole of the life ether produce male
plants, animals and men; while the forces which express
themselves through the negative pole generate females.
(3) Light Ether. — This ether is both positive and nega-
tive, and the forces Avhich play along its positive pole are
the forces which generate that blood heat in the higher
species of animal and in man, which makes them individ-
ual sources of heat. The forces which work along the
negative pole of the light ether are those Avhich operate
through the senses, manifesting as the passive functions
01 sight, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling. They
also build and nourish the eye.
Tn the cold-blooded animals the positive pole of the
light ether is the avenue of the forces which circulate the
blood, and the negative forces have the same functions
in regard to the eye as in the case of the higher animals
and man. Where eyes are lacking, the forces working in
the negative pole of the light ether are perhaps building
THE A'ISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 37
or nourishing other sense organs, as tliey do in all tliat
have sense organs.
In phmts tlie forces wliich work along the positive pole
of the light etiicr cause the circulation of the Juices of the
plant. Tiius in winter, when the light ether is not charged
with sunlight as in summer, the sap ceases to flow until
the summer sun again invests the light ether with
its force. The forces which work along the negative pole
of the light ether deposit the chlorophyl, the green sub-
stance of the plant and also color the flowers. In fact, all
color, in all the kingdoms is deposited Ijy means of the
negative pole of the light ether. Therefore animals have
the deepest color on the back and flowers are deepest col-
ored on the side turned towards the light. In the polar
regions of the earth, where the rays of the sun are weak,
all color is lighter and in some cases is so sparingly de-
posited that in winter it is withdrawn altogether and the
animals become white.
(4) Reflecting Ether. — It has heretofore been stated
that the idea of the house which has existed in the mind
can be recovered from the memory of nature, even after the
death of the architect. Everytiiing that has ever hap-
pened has left behind it an ineffaceable ])icture in this
reflecting ether. As the giant ferns of the childhood of
the Earth have left their pictures in the coal beds, and
as the progress of the glacier of a bygone day may be
traced by means of the trail it has left upon the rocks
along its path, even so are the thoughts and acts of men
inefFaceably recorded by nature in this reflecting ether,
where the trained seer may read their story with an ac-
curacy commensurate with his ability.
The reflecting ether deserves its name for more tlian
one reason, for the pictures in it are but reflections of tlie
38 ROiSICRUClAN COSMO-CO.NCEPTION
inemorv of nature. Tlie real memory of nature is found
in a much liigher realm. In this reflecting ether no thor-
oughly trained clairvoyant cares to read, as the pictures
are hlurred and vague compared to those found in the
higher realm. Those who read in the reflecting ether are
generally those who have no choice, who, in fact, do not
know in what they are reading. As a rule ordinary psy-
chometrists and mediums ohtain their knowledge through
tlie reflecting ether. To some slight extent the pupil of
the occult school in the first stages of his training also
reads in the reflecting ether, but he is warned by his
teacher of the insufficiencies of this ether as a means of
acquiring accurate information, so that he does not easily
draw wrong conclusions.
This ether is also the medium through which thought
makes an impression upon the human brain. It is most
intimately connected with the fourth subdivision of the
World of Thought. This is the highest of the four sub-
divisions contained in the Eegion of Concrete Thought
and is the homeworld of the human mind. There a much
clearer version of the memory of nature is found than in
the reflecting ether.
The Desire World.
Like the Physical World, and every other realm of
nature, the Desire World has the seven subdivisions called
"Regions," but unlike the Physical World, it does not have
the great divisions corresponding to the Chemical and
Etheric Eegions. Desire-stuff in the Desire World per-
sists through its seven subdivisions or regions as material
for the embodiment of desire. As the Chemical Region
is the realm of form and as the Etheric Region is the
home of the forces carrying on life activities in those
THE VISIBLE AND I>^VISIBLE WOKLDS 39
forms, enabling them to live, move and propafratc, so the
forces in the Desire World, working in the quickened dense
body, impel it to move in this or that direction.
If there were only the activities of the Chemical and
Etheric Regions of the Physical World, there would be
forms having life, able to move, but with no incentive for
so doing. This incentive is supplied by the cosmic forces
active in the Desire World and without this activity play-
ing through every fibre of the vitalized body, urging
action in this direction or that, there would be no exjxjri-
ence and no moral growth. The functions of the different
ethers would take care of th(i growth of the form, but
moral growth would be entirely lacking. Evolution would
be an impossibility, both as to form and life, for it is only
in response to the acquirements of spiritual growth that
forms evolve to higher states. Thus we at once see the
great importance of this realm of nature.
Desires, wishes, passions, and feelings express them-
selves in the matter of the different regions of the De-
sire World as form and feature expre^^s themselvo? in the
Chemical Region of the Physical World. They take forms
which last for a longer or shorter time, according to the
intensity of the desire, wish, or feeling embodied in thorn.
In the Desire World the distinction between the forces
and the matter is not so definite and apparent as in the
Physical World. One might almost say that here the
ideas of force and matter are identical or interchange-
able. It is not quite so, but we may say that to a certain
extent the Desire World consists of force-matter.
When speaking of the matter of the Desire World, it is
true that it is one degree less dense than the matter of
the Physical World, but we entertain an entirely wrong
idea if we imagine it is /iner physical matter. That idea,
40 ROSICRUCIAN (^OSMO-CONCEPTION
though held bv iiianv wlio have studied occult philosophies,
is entirely erroneous. The wrong impression is caused
principally by the difficulty of giving the full and accurate
description necessary for a thorough understanding of the
higher worlds. TTnfortunately, our language is descriptive
of material things and therefore entirely inadequate to
describe the conditions of the su))er-physical realms, hence
all that is said about these realms must be taken tenta-
tively, as similes, rather than as accurate descriptions.
Though the mountain and the daisy, the man, the horse,
and a piece of iBon, are composed of one ultimate atomic
substance, we do not say that the daisy is a finer form of
iron. Similarly it is impossible to explain in words the
change or difference in physical matter when it is broken
up into desire-stuff. If there were no difference it would
be amenable to the -laws of the Physical World, which it
is not.
The law of matter of the Chemical Region is inertia —
the tendency to remain in statu quo. It takes a certain
•amount of force to overcome this inertia and cause a body
which is at rest to move, or to stop a body in motijon. Not
so with the matter of the Desire World. That matter itself
is almost living. It is in unceasing motion, fluid, taking
all imaginable and unimaginable forms with inconceivable
facility and rapidity, at the same time coruscating and
scintillating in a thousand ever-changing shades of color,
incomparable to anything we know in this physical state
of consciousness. Something very faintly resembling the
action and appearance of this matter will be seen in the
play of colors on an abalone shell when held in the sun-
light and moved to and fro.
That is what the Desire World i< — ever-changing light
and color — in which the forces of animal and man inter-
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 41
mingle with tlie forces of innumerable Hierarchies of spiiit-
ual beings which do not appear in our Physical World,
but are as active in the Desire World as we are here. Some
of them will Ix? dealt with later and their connection with
man's evolution described.
'J'ho forces sent out by this vast and varied host of Be-
ings molds the ever-changing matter of the Desire World
into innumerable and differing forms of more or less
durability, according to the kinetic energy of the impulse
which gave them birth.
From this slight description it may be understood how
difficult it is for a neophyte who has just had his inner eyes
opened to find his balance in the World of Desire. The
trained clairvoyant soon ceases to wonder at the impossi-
ble descriptions sometimes brought through by mediums.
They may be perfectly honest, but the possi])ilitios
of getting the i^arallax out of focus are legion, and of the
subtlest nature, and the real wonder is that they ever, com-
municate anytliing correctly. All of us had to learn to
see, in the days of our infancy, as we may readily find l)y
watching a young babe. It will l)e found that the little
one will reach for objects on the other side of the room
c the street, or for the ^loon. ITe is entirely unable to
gauge distances. The blind man who has been made to
see will, at first, often close his eyes to walk from one
place to another, declaring, until he has learned to use
his eyes, that it is easier to walk by feeling than by sight.
So the one whose inner organs of perception have been
vivified must also l)e trained in the use of his newly ac-
quired faculty. At first the neophyte will try to apply to
the Desire World the knowledge derived from his expeH-
ence in the Physical World, because he has not yet learned
tke laws of the world into which he is enterint;. This is
4,2 KOSlCRUCIlAiN COSMO-CONCEPTION
the source of a vast amount of trouble and perplexity.
Before he can understand^ he must become as a little child,
which imbibed knowledge witliout reference to any ])re-
vious experience.
'I'o arrive at a correct understanding of the Desire
World it is necessary to realize that it is the world of feel-
ings, desire'^, and emotions. These are all undor the domi-
nation ot two great forces — Attraction and Kcpulsion.
which act in a ditferent way in the three denser Regions
of the Desire World from that in which they act in the
three 'finer or ujiper Regions, while the central Region
may he called neutral ground.
This c(nitral Region is the Region of feeling. Hero
interest in or indifference to an object or an idea sways the
balance in favor of one of the two previously mentioned
forces, thereby relegating the object or idea to the three
higher or the three lower. Regions of the Desire World,
or else they will exj)el it. We shall see presently how
this is accomplished.
Tn the finest and rarest substance of the three higher
Regions of the Desire World the force of Attraction alone
holds sway, but it is also present in some degree in the
denser matter of the three lower Regions, where it works
against the force of Repulsion, which is dominant there.
The disintegrating force of Repulsion would soon destroy
every form coming into these three lower Regions were it
not that it is thus counteracted. Tn the densest or lowest
Region, where it is strongest, it tears and shatters the
forms built there in a way dreadful to see, yet it is not a
vandalistic force. Nothing in nature is vandalistic. All
that appears so is hut working towards good. So with
this force in its work in the lowest Region of the Desire
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 43
World. The forms here are demoniac creations, built by
the coarsest passions and desires of man and beast.
The tendency of every form in the Desire World is to
attract to itself all it can of a like nature and grow tliereby.
If this tendency to attraction were to predominate in the
lowest Regions, evil would grow like a weed. There would
be anarchy instead of order in the Cosmos. This is pre-
vented by the preponderating power of the force of Re-
pulsion in this Region. When a coarse desire form is
being attracted to another of the same nature, there is
a disharmony in their vibrations, whereby one has a dis-
integrating effect upon the other. Thus, instead of unit-
ing and amalgamating evil with evil, they act with mutual
destructiveness and in tliat way the evil in the world is
kept within reasonable bounds. When we understand the
working of the twin forces in this respect we are in a posi-
tion to understand the occult maxim, "A lie is both mur-
der and suicide in the Desire World."
Anything happening in the Physical World is reflected
in all the other realms of nature and, as we have seen,
builds its a]ipropriate form in the Desire World. When
a true account of the occurrence is given, another form is
built, exactly like tlie first. They are then drawn together
and coalesce, strengthening each other. If, however, an
untrue account is given, a form different from and antago-
nistic to tlio first, or true one, is created. As they deal with
iho same occurrence, they are drawn together, but as their
vibrations are different they act upon each other with
mutual destructiveness. Therefore, evil and malicious lies
can kill anything that is good, if they are strong enough
and repeated often enough. But, conversely, seeking for
the irood in evil will, in time, transmute the evil into good.
If the form tliat is built to minimize the evil is weak, it
44 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
will have no effect and will be destroyed by the evil form,
but if it is stronfi^ and frequently repeated it will have the
effect of disintegrating the evil and substituting the good.
That effect, be it distinctly understood, is not brought
about l)y lying, nor denying the evil, but by looking for
the good. The occult scientist practices very rigidly this
princii)le of looking for good in all things, because he
knows what a power it possesses in keeping down evil.
Thci'i' is a stoi-y of Christ which illustrates this point.
Once Avhen walking with His disciples they passed the
decaying and ill-smelling carcass of a dog. The disciples
turned in ilisgust, commenting upon the nauseating na-
ture of the sight ; but Chri.st looked at the dead body and
said " Pearls are not whiter than its teeth." He was de-
termined to find the good, because He knew the beneficial
effect which would result in the Desire World from giv-
ing it exi)ression.
The lowest Region of the Desire World is called "the
Regio)i of Passion and Sensual Desire." The second sub-
division is l)est described by the name of "Region of Im-
pressionability.' Here the effect of the twin forces of
Attraction and Repulsion is evenly balanced. This is a
neuti'al Region, hence all our impressions which ai'e built
of the matter of this Region are neutral. Only Avhen the
twin feelings, which we shall meet in the fourth Region,
are Ijrought to bear, do the twin foi-ces come into play.
The mere impression of anything, however, in and of
itself, is entirely separate from the feeling it engenders.
The impression is neutral and is an activity of the second
Region of the Desire World, where pictures are formed
by the forces of Kense-])erception in the vital body of man.
In the third Region of the Desire World, the force of
Attraction, the integrating, upbuilding force, has already
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 45
gained tbe upper liand over the force of Repulsion, witli its
destructive tendency. When we understand that the
mainspring in this force of Repulsion is self-assertion, a
pushing away of all others that it may have room, we
shall understand that it gives way most easily to a desire
for other things, so that tlie suhstance of the third Region
of the Desire World is principally dominated by the force
of Attraction towards other things, hut in a selfish way,
and therefore this is the Region of Wishes.
The Iicgion of Coarse Desires may be likened to the
solids in the Physical World ; the Region of Impression-
ability to the fluids; and the fluctuating, evanescent nature
of the Region of Wishes will make that compare with the
gaseous portion of the Physical World. These three Re-
gions give the substance for the forms which make for
experience, soul-growth and evolution, purging the alto-
gether destructive and retaining the materials which may
be used for progress.
The fourth Region of the Desire World is the "Region
of Feeling.'' From it comes the feeling concerning the
already descrilied forms and upon the feeling engendered
by them depends the life which they have for us and also
their effect upon us. ^^■hether the objects and ideas pre-
sented are good or bad in themselves is not important at
this stage. It is our reeling, whether of Interest or In-
difference that is the determining factor as to the fate of
tlie object or idea.
If the feeling with which we meet an impression of an
object or an idea is Interest, it has the same effect upon
that impression as sunlight and air have upon a plant.
That idea will grow and flourish in our lives. If, on the
other hand, we meet an impression or idea with Indiffer-
ence, it withers as does a plant when put in a dark ('('liar.
46 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
TlniP from this central Kegion of the Desire World
conios the incentive to action, or the decision to refrain
therefrom (though the latter is also action in the eyes of
the occult scientist), for at the present stage of our de-
velopment the twin feelings, Interest and Indifference
furnish the incentive to action and are the springs that
move the world. At a later stage these feelings will cease
to have any weight. Then the determining factor will be
dutij.
Interest starts the forces of Attraction or Eepiilsion.
Indifference simply withers the object or idea against
which it is directed, so far as our connection with it is
concerned.
If our interest in an object or an idea generates Re-
pulsion, that naturally causes us to expurgate from our
lives any connection with the object or idea which roused
it; but there is a great difference between the action of
the force of Repulsion and the mere feeling of Indiffer-
ence. Perhaps an illustration will make more clear the
operation of tlio twin Feelings and the twin Forces.
Three uk'u arc walking along a road. They see a sick
dog; it is covered with sores and is evidently suffering in-
tensely from pain and thirst. This much is evident to
all three men — their senses tell lliciii that. Xow Feeling
comes. Two of them take an "interest'' in the animal, but
in the third there is a feeling of "indifference." He
passes on. leaving the dog to its fate. The others remain ;
they are both interested, but each manifests it in a quite
different way. The interest of one man is sympathetic and
helpful, impelling him to care for the poor beast, to as-
suage pains and nurse it back to health. In him the feel-
ing of interest has aroused the force of Attraction. The
other man's interest is of a different kind. He sees only
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 47
a loathsome sight which is revolting to him and wishes
to rid himself and the world of it as quickly as possible.
He advises killing tlie animal outright and burying it. In
him the feeling of interest generates the destructive force
of Repulsion.
When the feeling of Interest arouses the force of At-
traction and it is directed toward low objects and desires,
these work themselves out in the lower Regions of the
Desire World, where the counteracting force of Re])ulsion
operates, as previously described. From the battle of the
twin forces — Attraction and Repulsion — results all the
pain and suffering incident to wrongdoing or misdirected
effort, whether intentional or otherwise.
Thus we may see how very important is the Feeling we
have concerning anything, for upon that depends the
nature of the atmosphere we create for ourselves. If we
love the good, we shall keep and nourish as guardian
angels all that is good about us ; if the reverse, we shall
people our path with demons of our own breeding.
The names of the three upper Regions of the Desire
World are "Region of Soul-Life," "Region of Soul-Light."
and "Region of Soul-Powor." In these abide Art, .Mtru-
ism. Philanthropy, and all tlio activities of the higher
soul-life. When we think of these Regions as radiating
the qualities indicated by their names, into the forms of
the three InWer Regions, we shall understand correctly the
higher and lower activities. Soul-power, however, may
for a time be used for evil ])urposes as well as for good,
but eventually the force of Repulsion destroys vice and
the force of Attraction builds virtue u))on its shattered
ruins. All things, in the ultimate, work together for
GOOD.
The Physical and the Desire Worlds are not separated
48 KUSiCKL'CiA.N CUiSMO-COxNCEPTlON
from oacli other by space. They are "closer than hands
iind I'ect."" It is not necessary to move to get from one
to tlie other, nor from one Region to the next. Just as
solids, liquids, and gases are all together in our bodies,
inter- penetrating one another, so are the dill'erent Regions
of the Desire World within us also. We may again com-
pare the lines of force along which ice-crystals form in
water to the invisible causes originating in the Desire
World, which appear in the Physical World and give us
the incentive to action, in whatever direction it may be.
The Desire World, witli its innumerable inhabitants,
permeates the Physical World, as the lines of force do the
water — invisible, but everywhere present and potent as the
cause of everything in the Physical World.
The World of Thought.
The World of Thought also consists of seven Regions
of varying qualities and densities, and, like the Physical
World, the World of Thought is divided into two main
divisions — the Region of Concrete Thought, comprising
the four densest Regions ; and the Region of Abstract
'Hiought, comprising the three Regions of finest substance.
This World of Thought is the central one of the five
Worlds from which man obtains his vehicles. Here spirit
and body meet. It is also the highest of the three Worlds
in which man's evolution is being carried forward at the
present time, the two higher Worlds being practically in
abeyance as yet, so far as man is concerned.
We know that the materials of the Chemical Region are
used in l>uilding all physical forms. These forms are given
life and tiie power of motion by the forces at work in the
Etheric Region, and some of these living forms are stirred
into activity by means of the twin Feelings of the Desire
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 49
World. The Region of Concrete Thought furnishes the
mind-stuff in which ideas generated in the Region of Ab-
stract Thought clothe themselves as tli ought-forms, to act
as regulators and balance wheels upon the impulses en-
gendered in the Desire World by impacts from the phenom-
enal World.
Thus we see how tlie three Worlds, in which man is at
present evolving, complement one another, making a whole
that shows forth the Su])reme Wisdom of the Great Archi-
tect of the system to which we belong, and Whom we rev-
erence by the holy name of God.
Taking a more detailed view of the several divisions of
the Region of Concrete Thought we find that the arche-
types of physical form no matter to what kingdom they
may belong, are found in its lowest subdivision, or tlie
"Continental Region.'' In this Continental Region are
also the archetypes of the continents and the isles of tho
world, and corresponding to these archetypes are they
fashioned. ^Modifications in tlie crust of the Earth must
first be wrought in the Continental Region. Xot until the
archetypal model has been changed can the Intelligences
which we (to hide our ignorance concerning them) call
the "Laws of Xature," bring about the physical conditions
which alter the physical features of the Earth according
to the modifications designed by the Hierarchies in charge
of evolution. Tlioy plan changes as an architect plans tlie
alteration of a building before the workmen give it con-
crete expression. In like manner are changes in the fom
and fauna due to mct<imorphoses in their respective arche-
types.
When we speak of tlie archetypes of all the difTerent
forms in the donso world it must not be thought tliat
these archetypes are merely models in the same sense
50 KUSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
in which we speak of an object constructed in miniature,
or in some material other than that appropriate tor its
proper and tinal use. They are not merely likenesses nor
models of the forms we see about us, but are creative arche-
types; that is, they fashion the forms of the Piiysical
Woiid in tlieir own likeness or likenesses, for often many
work together to form one certain sj^ecies, each archetype
giving part of itself to build the reijuired form.
The second subdivision of the Kegion of Concrete
Thought is called the "'Oceanic Kegion.*' It is best de-
scriljcd as flowing, pulsating vitality. All the forces that
work through the four ethers which constitute the Etheric
Kegion are there seen as arclietyi)es. It is a stream of
flowing life, pulsating through all forms, as blood pulsates
through the body, the same lite in all forms. Here the
trained clairvoyant sees how true it is that '*all life is one."
The ''Aerial Kegion" is the third division of the Ke-
gion of Concrete Thought. Here we find the archetype of
desires, passions, wishes, feelings, and emotions such as we
experience in the Desire World. Ileie all the activities of
the Desire World appear as atniospheric conditions. Like
the kiss of the summer breeze come the feelings of pleas-
nre and joy to the clairvoyant sense; as the sighing of
the wind in the tree-tops seem the longings of the soul and
like flashes of lighting the passions of warring nations.
In this atmosphere of the Kegion of Concrete Thought are
also pictures of the emotions of man and beast.
The "Kegion of Archetypal Forces" is the fourth divi-
sion of the Kegion of Concrete Thought. It is the central
and most important Region in the five Worlds wherein
man's entire evolution is carried on. On the one side of
this Kegion are the three higher Kegions of the World of
Thought, the World of Life Spirit and the World of Divine
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WOKLDS 51
Spirit. On the other side of this Kegion of Archetypal
Forces f^re the three lower Regions of the World of
Thought, the Desire and the Physical Worlds. Thus this
Region bf comes a sort of "crux/' bounded on one side by
the RealiMs of Spirit, on the other by the Worlds of Form.
It is a focusing point, where Spirit reflects itself in
matter.
As the name implies, this Region is the home of the
Archety-pal Forces which direct the activity of the arche-
types in the Region of Concrete Thought. From this
Region Spirit works on matter in a formative manner.
Diagram 1 shows the idea in a schematic way, the forms in
the lower World being reflections of the Spirit in the
higher Worlds. The fifth Region, which is the one nearest
to the focusing point on the Spirit side, reflects itself in
the third Region, which is nearest the focusing point on
the Form side. The sixth Region reflects itself in the
second and the seventh reflects itself in the first.
The whole of the Region of Abstract Thought is re-
flected in the World of Desire; the World of Life Spirit in
the Etheric Region of the Physical World ; and the World
of Divine Spirit in the Chemical Region of the Physical
World.
Diagram 2 will give a comprehensive idea of the seven
Worlds which are the sjihore of our dovelo]iment, l)ut we
must carefully keoj) in mind that tluve Wurlds arc ni>t
placed one above another, as shown in the diagram. They
inter-penotratc — that is to sav. that a>^ in the case where
the relation of the Pbvsical Wor'd ami the Desire World
were compared, where wc likened the Desire World to the
lines of force in fieczing water and the water itself to the
Physical World, in the same way we may think of the
lines of force as being anv of the seven Worlds, and the
Diagram 1 — The Relative Pennaneucy of the Visible and
Invisible Worlds.
(Illustratod by comparison with a stereopticon.)
52
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 53
water, as in our illustration, would correspond to the next
denser World in the scale. Another illustration may per-
haps make the subject clearer.
Ijet us u?e a spherical sponge .'^ represent the dense earth
— the Chemical Region. Imagine that sand permeates
every part of the sponge and also forms a layer outside the
sponge. Let the sand represent the Etheric Region, which
in a similar manner permeates the dense earth and ex-
tends beyond its atmosphere.
Let us further imagine this sponge and sand immersed
in a spherical glass vessel tilled with clear water, and a
little larger than the sponge and sand. We place the
sponge and sand in the center of the vessel as the yolk
is placed in the center of an egg. We have now a space
of clear water between the sand and the vessel. The water
as a whole will represent the Desire World, for just as the
water percolates between the grains of sand, through every
pore of the sponge, and forms that clear layer, so the
Desire World permeates lioth the dense Earth and the
ether and extends l)ey(>nd both of these substances.
We know there is air in water, and if we think of the
air in the water (in our illustration), as representing
the World nf Thought, we shall have a fair mental picture
of the way in which the World of Thought, being finer and
more subtle, inter-penetrates the two denser Worlds.
Finally, imagine that the vessel containing the sponge,
sand and water is ])hued in the center of a larger spherical
vessel then the air in the space between the two vess<^ls
would re])resent that part of the World of Thought which
extends beyond the Desire World.
P2ach of the planets in our solar system has three such
inter-penetrating Worlds, and if we think of each of the
planets consisting of three Worlds as lieing individual
54
ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
DIAGRAM a
THE SEVEN WORLDS
WORLD
OF GOD
Consisting ofy\J Regions.
WORLD This World consists of 7 Regions and is the
OF abode of the Virgin Spirits when they have
VIRGIN been differentiated in God before the pilgrim-
SPIRITS age through matter.
Vehicles
of Man
WORLD OF Consists of 7 Regions and is the abode of the
DIVINE SPIRIT highest spiritual influence in man.
Divine
Spirit
WORLD OF
LIFE SPIRIT
Consists of 7 Regions and is the abode of the
second aspect of the threefold spirit in man.
Life
Spirit
7th Region contains the germinal idea of form
in mineral, plant, animal and man.
REGION OF 6th Region contains germinal idea of life In
ABSTRACT plant, animal and man.
5th Region contains germinal idea of desire
THOUGHT and emotion in animal and man; abode of 3rd
aspect of spirit in man.
Human
Spirit
REGION OF
CONCRETE
THOUCTHT
4th Region contains the archetypal forces and
the human mind.. It is the focusing point
through which the spirit mirrors itself in mat-
ter.
3rd Region archetypes of desire and emotion.
2nd Region archetypes of universal vitality.
1st Region archetypes of form.
:i
Mind
7th Region Soul-Power
6th Region Soul-Light
5th Region Soul-Life.
^
•Attraction
DESIRE
WORLD
4th Region Feeli
Jin
lln
difference.
Desire
Body
3rd Region Wishes ■»
2nd Region Impressionability j
1st Region Passion and Low DesircJ
Repulsion.
7th Region Reflecting ether, memory of nature.
6th Region Light ether, medium of sense per-
ETHERIC ception.
REGION 5th Region Life ether, medium for propagation.
4th Region Chemical ether, medium for assimi-
lation and excretion.
Vital
Body
o
CHEMICAL
3rd Region Gases.
0)
>
T
REGION
2rd Region Liquids.
1st Region Solids.
a.
Dense
Body
THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE "WORLDS r,.-,
sponges, and of the fourth World, the World of Life Spirit,
as being the water in a large vessel where these threefold
separate sponges swim, we shall understand that as the
water in the vessel fills the space between the sponges and
percolates through them, so the World of Life Spirit per-
vades inter-planetarv space and inter-penetrates the indi-
vidual planets. It forms a common bond between them,
so that as it is necessary to have a boat and l^e able to
control it, if we wish to sail from America to Africa, so it
is necessary to have a vehicle correlated to the World of
Life Spirit under our conscious control in order to be able
to travel from one planet to another.
In a manner similar to that in which the World of Life
Spirit correlates us to the other planets in our own solar
system does the World of Divine Spirit correlate us to the
other solar systems. We may regard the solar systems as
separate sponges, swimming in a World of Divine Spirit,
and thus it will be apparent that in order to travel from
one solar system to another it would be necessary to be
able to function consciously in the highest vehicle of man,
the Divine Spirit.
CHAPTER II.
The Four Kingdoms.
TPIE three Worlds of our planet are at present the
field of evolution, for a number of different king-
doms of life, at various stages of development. Only
four of these need concern us at present, viz. : the mineral,
plant, animal, and human kingdoms.
These four kingdoms are related to the three Worlds
in different ways, according to the progress these groups of
evolving life have made in the school of experience. So
far as form is concerned the dense bodies of all the king-
doms are composed of the same chemical substances —
the solids, liquids, and gases of the Chemical Eegion.
The dense body of a man is as truly a chemical compound
as is the stone, although the latter is ensouled by mineral
life only. But even when speaking from the purely physical
standpoint, and laying aside all other considerations for the
time being, there are several important differences when we
compare the dense body of the human being with the min-
eral of the Earth, ^lan moves, grows, and propagates his
species — the mineral^ in its native state, does none of these
things.
Comjiaring man with the forms of the plant kingdom,
we find that both plant and man have a dense body, capa-
ble of growth and propagation. But Man has faculties not
possessed by tlic plant. He feels, has the power of motion,
and the faculty of perceiving tilings exterior to himself.
66
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 57
When we compare man with the animal we see that
both liave the faculties of feeling, motion, growth, propa-
gation, and sense-perception. In addition, man has the
faculty of s|)oech, a superior structure of the hrain, and
also hands — which are a very great physical advantage.
We may note especially the development of the thumb,
which makes the hand mucli more valuable than even that
of the anthropoid. Man has also evolved a definite lan-
guage in which to express his feelings and thoughts, all of
which places the dense body of the human being in a 'class
by itself, beyond the three lower kingdoms.
To account for these differences in the four kingdoms
we must go to the invisible Worlds, and seek the causes
which give one kingdom that which is denied to another.
To function in any world, and express the qualities
peculiar to it, we must first possess a vehicle made of its
material. In order to function in the dense Piiysical
World it is necessary to have a dense body, adapted to our
environment. Otherwise we should be ghosts, as they are
commonly called, and be invisible to most physical l)eings.
So we must have a vital body, before we can express life,
grow, or externalize^ the other qualities peculiar to the
Ethcric Region.
To show feeling and ciiidtinn it is necessary to Itavc a
vehicle composed of the materials of tlie Desire World, and
a mind foruicd of the substance of the Region of Concrete
Thought is necessary to render thinking possible.
When we examine the four kingdoms in relation to the
Etheric Region, we find that the mineral does not ]>osses3
a separate vital body, and at once we see the reason why it
cannot grow, propagate, or show sentient life.
As an hypothesis necessary to account for other known
facts, material science holds that in the densest solid, as in
68 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
file rarest and most attenuated gas, no two atoms touch
each other ; that there is an envelope of ether around each
atom; that the atoms in the universe float in an ocean of
ether.
The occult scientist knows this to be true of the Chem-
ical Region and that the mineral does not possess a separate
vital body of ether. And as it is the planetary ether alone
which envelops the atoms of the mineral, that makes the
difference described. It is necessary, as we have shown,
to have a separate, vital Jjodij, desire hodij, etc., to express
the qualities of a particular realm, because the atoms of the
World of Desire, of tlie World of Thought and even of the
Highe:* Worlds, inter-penetrate the ^Fineral as well as the
dense human body, and if the inter-penetration of the
planetaiy ether, which is the ether that envelops the atoms
of t::e mineral, were enough to make it feel and propagate
its inter-jienctration I;y the planetary World of Thought
would also be sullicient to make it think. This it cannot
do, because it lacks a separate vehicle. It is penetrated by
the planetary ether only, and is therefore incapable of indi-
vidual growth. Only the lowest of the four states of
ether — the chemical — is active in the mineral. The chem-
ical forces in minerals are due to that fact.
When we consider plant, animal, and man in relation
to the Etheric Region we note that each has a separate,
vital body, in addition to being penetrated by the planetary
ether which forms the Etheric Region. There is a differ-
ence, however, between the vital bodies of the plants and
the vital bodies of animal and man. In the vital body
of the plant only the chemical and the life ethers are fully
active. Hence the plant can grow by the action of the
chemical ether and propagate its species through the activ-
ity of the life ether of the separate, vital body which it
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 59
possesses. The light ether is present, but is partially latent
or dormant and refloctino^ ether is lacking. Therefore it
is evident that the faculties of sense-perception and mem-
ory, which are the <inalities of these etliers, cannot be
expressed by the ])lant kingdom.
Turning oiir attention to tlie vital body of the animal
wo iind that in it the cliemical, life and light ethers are
dynamically active. Hence the animal has the faculties
of assimilation and growth, caused by the activities of
the chemical ether ; and the faculty of propagation by
means of the life ether — these being the same as in plants.
But in addition, consequent n])on the action of the third
or light ether, it has the Faculties of generating internal
heat and of sense-perception. The fourth ether, however,
is inactive in tlie animal, hence it has no thought nor mem-
ory. That which ai)i)ears as such will be shown later to
be of a dift'eieut nature.
When we analyze the human being, we tind that in him
all four ethers are dynamically active in the highly organ-
ized vital body. By means of the activities of the chemical
ether he is able to assimilate food and to grow : the forces at
work in the life ether enable him to propagate his species;
the forces in the light ether siipply the dense body with
heat, work on the nervous system and the muscles, thus
opening the doors of communication with the outside world
by way of the senses; and the retlecting ether enables the
spirit to control its vehicle by means of thought. This
etiier also stores past experience as memory.
The vital body of plant, animal, and man, extends be-
yond the periphery of the dense body as the Etheric
Kegion, which is the vital body of a planet, extends beyond
its dense part, showing again the truth of the Hermetic
axiom "As above, so below.'' The distance of this exten-
60 ROSK'RUCIAN (OSMO CONCEPTION
sion of the vital l)ody of man is about an incli and a lialf.
Tlie part wliich is outside the dense body is very huninous
and about the color of a new-blown peach-blossom. It is
often seen by persons having very slight involuntary clair-
voyance. The writer has found, when speaking with such
persons, that they frequently are not aware they see any-
thing unusual and do not know what they see.
The dense body is built into the matrix of this vital
body during ante-natal life, and with one exception, it is
an exact copy, molecule for molecule, of the vital body.
As the lines of force in freezing water are the avenues of
formation for ice crystals, so the lines of force in the vital
body determine the shape of the dense body. All through
life the vital body is the builder and restorer of the dense
form. Were it not for the etheric heart the dense lieart
would break quickly under the constant strain we put upon
it. All the abuses to which we subject the dense body are
counteracted, so far as lies in its power, by the vital body,
which is continually fighting against the death of the
dense body.
The exception mentioned above is that the vital body
of a man is female or negative, while that of a woman is
male or positive. In that fact we have the key to numer-
ous puzzling problems of life. That woman gives way to
her emotions is due to the polarity noted, for her positive,
vital body generates an excess of blood and causes her to
labor under an enormous internal pressure that would
break the physical casement were not a safety-valve pro-
vided in the periodical flow, and another in the tears which
relieve the pressure on special occasions — for tears are
"white bleeding."
Man may have and has as strong emotions as woman,
but he is usually able to suppress them without tears, be-
THE FUIK KI.\(;D()MS 61
cause his negative vital body does not generate more blood
than he can comfortably control.
Unlike the higher vehicles of humanity, the vital i)ody
(except under certain circumstances, to be explained when
the subject of "Initiation" is dealt with) does not ordinar-
ily leave the dense body until the death of the latter. Then
the ciiemical forces of the dense body are no longer held
in check by the evolving life. They proceed to restore the
matter to its primo'dial condition liy disintegration so that
it may be available for the formation of other forms in
tlie economy of nature. Disintegration is thus due to the
activity of the planetary forces in the chemical ether.
In texture the vital l)ndy may be crudely compared to
one of those picture' franit's made of hundreds of little
j)ieces of wood which interlock and present innumerable
points to the observer. The vital body presents millions
of points to the observer. These points enter into the
hollow centers of the dense atoms, imbuing them with vital
force that sets them vibrating at a rate higher than that of
the mineral of the earth which is not thus accelerated and
ensouled.
When a person is drowning, or falling from a height,
or freezing, the vital l)ody leaves the dense body, the atoms
of which become temporarily inert in consequence, but at
resuscitation it re-enters the dense body and the "points"
are again inserted in the dense atoms. The inertia of the
atoms causes them to resist the resumption of vibration
and that is the cause of the intense prickly pain and the
tingling sensation noted at such times, but not ordinarily,
for tlie same reason that we become conscious of tbo start-
ing or stopping of a clock, Init are oblivious to its tick
when it is running.
There are certain cases where the vital body partly
68 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
k-avos the dense body, such as wlicn a liand "goes to
sleep." Then the etheric liand of the vital body may be
seen hanging below the dense arm like a glove and the
points cause the peculiar pricking sensation felt when the
etheric hand re-enters the dense hand. Sometimes in
hypnosis the head of the vital body divides and hangs out-
side the dense head, one half over each shoulder, or lies
around the neck like the collar of a sweater. The absence
of prickly sensation at awakening in cases like this is be-
cause during the hypnosis part of the hypnotist's vital
body had been substituted for that of the victim.
When anesthetics are used the vital body is partially
driven out, along with the higher vehicles, and if the appli-
cation is too strong and the life ether is driven out, death
ensues. This same phenomenon may also be observed in.
the case of materializing mediums. In fact the difference
between a materializing medium and an ordinary man
or woman is just this: In the ordinary man or woman
the vital body and the dense body are, at the present stage
of evolution, quite firmly interlocked, while in the medium
they are loosely connected. It has not always been so, and
the time will again come when tlie vital body may normally
leave the dense vehicle, but tliat is not normally accom-
plished at present. When a medium allows his or her vital
body to 1)6 used by entities from the Desire World who
wish to materialize, the vital body generally oozes from
the left side — through the spleen, which is its particular
"gate." Then the vital forces cannot flow into the body
as they do normally, the medium becomes greatly ex-
hausted, and some of them resort to stimulants to counter-
act the effects, in time becoming incurable drunkards.
The vital force from the sun, which surrounds us as a
colorless fluid, is absorbed by the vital body through the
THE FOLK KINGDOMS (J3
etheric ccmnterpart of the spleen, wlierein it undergoes a
curious transformation of color. It becomes pale ro>e-
hued and spreads along the nerves all over the dense body.
It is to the nervous system what the force of electricity is
to a telegraph system. Though there be wires, instruments,
and telegraph operators all in order, if the electricity is
lacking, no message can be sent. The Ego, the brain, and
the nervous system may be in seemingly perfect order, but
if the vital force be lacking to carry the message of the
Ego through the nerves to the muscles, the dense bo'^'' will
remain inert. This is exactly what happens when part of
the dense body becomes paralyzed. The vital body has be-
come diseased and the vital force can no longer flow. In
such cases, as in most sickness, the trouble is with the
finer invisible vehicles. In conscious or unconscious rec-
ognition of this fact, the most successful physicians use
suggestion — which works upon the higher vehicles — as an
aid to medicine. The more a physician can imbue his
patient with faith and hope, tlie s])eedier disease will van-
ish and give place to perfect health.
During health the vital body specializes a superabundance
of vital force, which, after passing through a dense body,
radiates in straight lines in every direction from the per-
iphery thereof, as the radii of a circle do from the center;
but during ill-health, when the vital l)ody becomes attenu-
ated, it is not able to draw to itself the same amount of
force and in addition the dense body is feeding upon it.
Then the lines of the vital fluid which pass out from the
body are crumpled and bent, showing the lack of force
behind them. In health the great force of these radiations
carries with it germs and microbes which are inimical to
the health of the dense body, but in sickness, when the vital
force is weak, these emanations do not so readily eliminate
64 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
disease germs. Therefore the danger of contracting di^i-
ease is much greater when the vital forces are low than
when one is in robust health.
In cases where parts of the dense body arc amputated,
only the planetary ether accompanies the separated part.
The separate vital body and the dense body disintegrate
synchronously after death. So with the etheric coun-
terpart of the amputated limb. It will gradually
disintegrate as the dense member decays, but in the
meantime the fact that the man still possesses the etheric
limb accounts for his assertion that he can feel his fin-
gers or suffers pain in them. There is also a connection
with a buried member, irrespective of distance. A
case is on record where a man felt a severe pain, as if a
nail had been driven into the flesh of an amputated limb,
and he persisted until the limb was exhumed, when it was
found that a nail had been driven into it at the time it was
boxed for burial. The nail was removed and the pain
instantly stopped. It is also in accordance with these
facts that people complain of pain in a limb for perhaps
two or three years after the amputation. The pain will
then cease. This is because the disease remains in the still
undetached etheric limb, but as the amputated part dis-
integrates, the etheric limb follows suit and tlms the pain
ceases.
Having noted the relations of the four kingdoms to the
Etheric Region of the Physical World, we will next turn
our attention to their relation to tlie Desire World.
Here we find that both minerals and plants lack the
separate desire body. They are permeated only by the
planetary desire body, the Desire World. Lacking the
separate vehicle, they are incapable of feeling, desire, and
emotion, which are faculties pertaining to the Desire
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 65
World. When a stone is broken, it docs not feel ; but it
would be wrong to infer that there is no feeling connected
with such an action. That is the materialistic view, or the
view tiiken by the uncomprehending multitude. The
occult scientist knows that there is no act, great or small,
which is not felt throughout the universe, and even though
the stone, because it has no separate de>ire body, cannot
feel, the Spirit of the Earth feels because it is the Earth's
desire body that permeates the stone. When a man cuts
his finger, the finger, having no separate desire body, does
not feel the pain, l)ut the man does, because it is his desire
body which permeates the finger. If a plant is torn up l)y
the roots, it is felt by the Spirit of the Karth as a man
would feel if a hair were torn from his head. This Earth
is a living, feeling body, and all the forms which are with-
out separate desire bodies througli which their informing
spirits may experience feeling, are included in the desire
body of the Earth and that desire body has feeling. The
breaking of a stone and the breaking off of ilowers are
productive of pleasure to the Earth, wliile the ))iilling out
of plants by the root causes pain. The reason is given in
the latter ])art of this work, for at this stage of our study
the explanation would be incompreheiisihU' to the general
reader.
The ])lanetary Desire World ]nilsates through the dense
and vital Inidies of animal and man in the same way that
it |)('netrates the mineral and jilant, but iu addition to this.
animal and man have separate desire bodies, which enable
them to feel desire, emotion and passion. There is a differ-
ence, however. Tlie desire body of the animal is built en-
tirely of tlie material of the denser regions of the TVsire
World, while in the case of even the lowest of human races
a little of the matter of the hiirher Regions enters into tlie
66 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
composition of the desire body. The feelings of animals
and the lowest huiiian i-aces ai'o almost entirely concerned
with the gratification of the lowest desires and passion^
which find their expression in the matter of tlie lower
Eegions of the Desire World. Hence, in order that they
may have such emotions to ediicat-e them for something
higher, it is necessary that they should have the corre-
sponding materials in tlieir desire bodies. As man pro-
gresses in the school of life, his experiences teach him,
and his desires become jmn' ■ aud better. Thus by degrees
the matci'ial of his dcsii'e body undergoes a corresponding
change. The purer and brighter nuiterial of the higher
Eegions of the Desire World replaces the murky colors
of the lower part. The desire body also grows in size, so
that in a saint it is truly a glorious object to behold, the
purity of its colors and its luminous transjiarency being
beyond adequate simile. Tt must be seen to W appreciated.
At present the materials of both the lower and the
higher Eegions enter into the composition of the desire
bodies of the great majority of mankind. None are so
bad that they have not some good trait. This is expressed
in the materials of the higher Eegions which we find in
their desire bodies. But^ on the other hand, very, very few
are so good that they do not use some of the materials of
the lower Eegions.
In the same way that the planetary vital and desire
bodies inter-penetrate the dense material of the Earth, as
we saw in the illustration of the sponge, the sand and the
water, so the vital and desire bodies inter-penetrate the
dense body of plant, aninuil aiul man. But during the
life of man his desire body is not shaped like his dense and
vital bodies. After death it assumes that sha]ie. During
life it has the appearance of a luminous ovoid which, in
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 67
vraking hours, completely surrounds tl\e dense body, as
the albumen does the yolk of an egg. It extends from
twelve to sixteen inches beyond the dense body. In this
desire body there are a number of sense-centers, but, in
the great majority of people, they are latent. It is the
awakening of these centers of perception that corresponds
to the opening of the blind man's eyes in our former illus-
tration. The matter in the human desire body is in in-
cessant motion of inconceivable rapidity. There is in it
no settled place for any particle, as in the dense body.
The matter that is at the head one moment may be at the
feet in the next and back again. There are no organs in the
desire body, as in the dense and vital bodies, but there are
centers of ])erception, which, when active, appear as vor-
tices, always remaining in the same relative position to the
dense body, most of them about the head. In the majority
of people they are mere eddies and are of no use as centers
of perception. They may be awakened in all, however,
but different methods produce different results.
In the involuntary clairvoyant developed along improper,
negative lines, these vortices turn from right to left, or
in the ojiposite direction to the hands of a clock — counter-
clockwise.
In the desire body oL' the properly trained voluntary
clairvoyant, they turn in the same direction as the hands
of a clock — clockwise, glowing with exceeding splendor, far
surpassing the brilliant luminosity of the ordinary desire
body. These centers furnish him with means for the per-
ception of things in the Desire World and he sees, and in-
vestigates as he wills, while the peison whose centers turn
counter-clockwise is like a mirror, which reflects what
passes before it. Such a ]">erson is incapable of reaching
out for information. Tb.e reason for this belongs to a later
68 BOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
chapter, but the above is one of the fundaineutal dilfereneefc'
between a medium and a i^roperly trained clairvoyant.
It is impossible for most people to distinguish between
the two ; yet there is one infallible rule that can be followed
by anyone: No goiuincli/ developed seer will ever exercise
this faculty for money or its equivalent; nor will he use it
to gratify curiosity; hut only to help humanity.
Xo one capable of teaching the projx^r method for the
development of this faculty will ever charge so much a
lesson. Those demanding money for the exercise of, or for
giving lessons in these tilings never have anything worth
paying for. The above rule is a safe and sure guide, which
all may follow with absolute confidence.
In a far distant future man's desire body Avill become as
definitely organized as are the vital and dense bodies.
When that stage is reached Ave shall all have the power to
function in the desire body as we now do in the dense
body, which is the oldest and best organized of these bodies
of man — the desire body being the youngest.
The desire body is rooted in the liver, as the vital body
is in the spleen.
In all warm-blooded creatures, which are the highest
evolved, and have feelings, passions and emotions, which
reach outward into the world with desire, which may be
said to really live in the fuller meaning of the term and not
merely vegetate — in all such creatures the currents of the
desire body flow outward from the liver. The desire stuff
is continually welling out in streams or currents which
travel in curved lines to every point of the periphery of
the ovoid and then return to tlie liver through a number
of vortices, much as boiling water is continually welling
outward from the source of heat and returning to it after
completing its cvcle.
*>4
^
THE FOUR KINGDOMS G9
The plants are devoid of this impelling, energizing
principle, lience they cannot sliow life and motion as can
the more highly developed organisms.
Where there is vitality and motion, hut no red l)lood,
there is no separate desire hody. The creature is simply
in the transition stage from plant to animal and therefore
it moves entirely in the strength of the group-spirit.
In the co/(Z-hlooded animals which have a liver and red
Wood, there is a separate desire body and the group-spirit
directs the currents inward, because in their case the sepa-
rate spirit (of the individual fish or reptile for instance)
is entirely outside the dense vehicle.
"When the organism has evolved so far that the separate
spirit can commence to draw into its vehicles then it (the
individual spirit) commences to direct the currents out-
ivard, and we see the l^eginning of passionate existence and
warm blood. It is the warm, red blood in tlie liver of the
organism sulHciently evolved to have an //Klwelling spirit
which energizes the outgoing currents of desire stuff
that cause the animal or the man to display desire and
passion. In the case of the animal the spirit is not yet
entirely mdwelling. It does not become so until the points
in tlie vital body and the dense body come into correspond-
ence, as explained in Cliapter XII. For this reason the
animal is not a "liver,'' that is, he does not live as com-
pletely as does man, not being capable of as fine desires ami
emotions, because not as fully conscious. The mammalia of
today are on a higher plane than was man at the animal
stage of his evolution, because they have warm, red blood,
which man did not have at that stage. This diiference in
status is accounted for by the spiral path of evolution,
which also accounts for the fact that man is a higher tv))0
of humanity than the present Angels were in ^lieir human
70 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
stage. The pro?ont mammalia, wliich liave in thoir animal
stage attained to the possession of warm, red blood, and are
therefore capable of experiencing desire and emotion to
some extent, will, in the Jupiter Period, be a purer and
better type of humanity than we are now, while from
among our present humanity there will be some, even in
the Jupiter Period, who will be openly and avowedly
wicked. Moreover, they will not then be able to conceal
their passions as is now possible, but will be unabashed
about their evil-doing.
In the light of this exposition of the connection between
the liver and the life of the organism, it is noteworthy
tliat in several European languages (English, German,
and the Scandinavian tongues) the same word signifies
the organ of the body (the liver) and also "one who lives.'*
When we turn our attention to the four kingdoms in
their relation to the World of Thought we find that min-
erals, plants and animals lack a vehicle correlating them to
that World. Yet we know some animals think, but they
are the highest domesticated animals which have come
into close touch with man for generations and have thus
developed a faculty not possessed by other animals, which
have not had that advantage. This is on the same princi-
ple that a highly charged wire will "induce" a weaker cur-
rent of electricity in a wire brought close to it ; or that a
man of strong morals will arouse a like tendency in a
weaker nature, while one morally weak will be overthrown
if brought within the influence of evil characters. All we
do, say, or are, reflects itself in our surroundings. This is
why the highest domestic animals think. They are the
highest of their kind, almost on the point of individualiza-
tion, and man's thought vibrations have "induced" in them
a similar activity of a lower order. With the exceptions
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 71
noted, the animal kingdom lia.s not acquired the faculty of
thought. They are not individualized. This is the great
and cardinal dift'erence between the human and other king-
doms. Man is an individual. The animals, plants and
minerals are divided into species. They are not individual-
ized in the same sense that man is.
It is true that we divide mankind into races, trilx?s and
nations; we note the difference between the Caucassian, the
Negro, the Indian, etc.; but that is not to the ])oint. If
we wish to study the characteristics of the lion or the
elephant or any other species of the lower animals, all that
is necessary is to take any member of that species for that
pur])ose. When we learn the characteristics of one animal,
we know the characteristics of the s])ecies to which it be-
longs. All members of the same animal tfibe are alike.
That is the point. A lion, or its father, or its son, all
look alike: there is no difference in the way they will act
under like conditions. All have the same likes and ilis-
likes; one is the same as another..
Xot so with Iniiiian beings. If we want to know about
the characteristics of Xcgroes. it is not enough that we
examine one single individual. It would be necessarv to
examine each individually, and oven tbi'U we will arrive at
no knowledge concerning Negroes "as a whole,'' sim]ily
because that which was a characteristic of the single indi-
vidual does not ajjply to the race collectively.
If we desire to know the character of Abraham Lin-
coln it will avail us nothing to study his father, his graiul-
fatbcr. or bis son, for they w<iuld differ entirely. Each
would have his own jieculiarities quite distinct from tb.e
idiosyncracies of Abraham Lincoln.
On the other hand, minerals, plants, and aniuiaN iiro
described if we devote our attention to the description of
73 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
one of each species; wliilc tliore are as many species among
human beings as there are individuals. Each individual
person is a "species," a law unto himself, altogether sepa-
rate and apart from any other individual, as different from
his fellow-men as one species in the lower kingdom is from
another. We may write the biography of a man, but an
animal can have no biography. This is Ijecause there is in
each man an individual, xndirclliiKj spirit whicli dictates
the thoughts and actions of each individual human being;
while there is one "group-spirit'' coininon to all the differ-
ent animals or plants of flic same species. The group-
spirit works on theui all frum the outside. The tiger
which roams in the wilds of the Indian jungle and the
tiger penned up in flie cage of a menagerie are both ex-
pressions of ^he same group-spirit. It influences both
alike from the Desire World, distance being almost anni-
hilated in the inner Worlds.
The group-spirits of the three lower kingdoms are vari-
ously located in the higher Worlds, as we shall see when
we investigate the consciousness of the different kingdoms ;
but to properly com])reliend the positions of these group-
spirits in the inner Worhls it is necessary to rciuonihor
and to cloai'ly undci'stand wliat has lieen said al)oiit all tlie
forms that arc in the visible world having crystallized from
models and ideas in the inner Worlds, as illustrated by the
architect's house and the inventor's machine. As the juices
of the soft body of the snail crystallize into the hard slmll
which it carries upon its back, so the Spirits in the higher
Worlds have, in a similar manner, crystallized out from
themselves the dense, material bodies of the different
kingdoms.
Thus the so-called "higher" bodies, although so fine and
cloudy as to be invisible, are not by any means "emana-
THE FOUK K1-\GDUM«
73
tions" from the dense body, but the dense vehicles of all
kingdoms correspond to the shell of the snail, which is
crystallized fi'om its juices, tlie snail representing the
spirit ; and the juices of its body in their progress towards
crystallization representing the mind, desire body and vital
body. These various rrhirles were emanated by the sjfirit
from itself for the j)urpose of gaining experience through
them. It is the spirit that moves the dense body where
it will, as the snail moves its house, and not the body that
controls the movements of the spirit. The more closely the
spirit is able to enter into touch with its vehicle the better
can it control and express itself through that vehicle, and
vice versa. Tiiat is the key to the different states of con-
Bciousness in the different kingdoms, A study of diagrams
3 and 4 should give a clear understanding of tlie vehicles
of each kingdom, the manner in M-hich they are correlated
DIAGRAM 3
Showing the vehicles of each kingdom, and the manner in which
such vehicles are correlated to the different worlds.
KINGDOM
WORLD
Mineral
PUnt
Animal
Man
Region of
Abstract Thought —
and
Region of
Concrete Thought
Group-spiiit
and Ego
No vehicle
Group-spirit
and Ego
Xo vehicle
Group-spirit
and Ego
Xo Nehicle
Ego
Mind
Desire World
No vehicle
No vehicle
Desire body
Physical World:
includes the
Etheric Region
and the
Chemical Region
N'o vehicle
Dense body
Vital body
Dense body
Vital body
Dense body
Vital body
Dense bodj
74 ROSTCRUCIAN COSMO-COXCEPTION
D I AGRA M 4
Showing the state of consciousness appertaining to each kingdom.
KINGDOM
State of
Conscious-
ness
\\ R L D
Mineral
Plant .
Animal
Man
Region of
Abstract Thought
and
Region of
Concrete Thought
Group-
spirit
and
Ego
Group-
spirit
and
Ego
Trance-
like
Dreamless
Sleep
Desire World
Group-
spir.t
and
Kgo
Dream
ness
Physical World:
includes the
Dense
body
Vital
body
Dense
body
Desire
body
Vital
body
Dense
body
Ego
Mind
Desire
body
Vital
body
Dense
body
Waking
and the
Chemical Region
Conscious-
ness
to the dilfert'iit A\'orlds and the resulting state of con-
sciousness.
From diagram 3 we learn that the separate Kgo is
definitely segregated witliin the T'niversal Spii'it in the
Kegion of Abstract Thought. It shows that only man
possesses the comjdete chain of vehicles correlating him
to all divisions of the tliree Worlds. The animal lacks one
link of chain — the mind; the ])lant lacks two links, the
mind and the desire body ; and the mineral lacks three
links in the chain of vehicles nece'^sary to function in a
self-conscious manner in the riiysical World — the mind,
the desire and the vital bodies.
The reason for the various deiiciencies is that the Min-
eral Kingdom is the expression of the latest stream o-f
evolving life; the Plant Kingdom is ensouled by a life wave
that has been longer upon the path of evolution; the life
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 75
wave of the animal Kingdom has a still longer past ; while
Man, that is to say, the life now expressing itself in the
human form, has behind it the longest journey of all the
four kingdoms, and tlierefore leads. In time, the three
life-waves which now animate the three lower kingdoms
will reach the human, and we shall have passed to higher
stages of development.
To understand the degree of consciousness which results
from the possession of tiie vehicles used by the life evolving
in the four kingdoms, Ave turn our attention to diagram 4,
which shows that man, the Ego, the Thinker, has de-
scended into the Chemical Region of the Physical World.
Here he has marshaled all his vehicles, thereby attaininj.',
the state of waking consciousness. He is learning to con-
trol his vehicles. The organs of neither the desire body
nor the mind are yet evolved. The latter is not yet evei>
a body. At present it is simply a link, a sheath for the
use of the Ego as a focusing point. It is the last of the
rehicles that have hcen built. The spirit works gradually
from finer into coarser suhstance, the vehicles also heing
built in fine substance first, then in coarser and coarser
substance. The dense body was built first and has now
come into its fourth stage of density; the vital body it
in its third stage and the desire body in its second, hence it
is still cloud-like, and the sheath of mind is filmier still.
As those vehicles have not, as yet, evolved any organs, it is
clear that they alone would be useless as vehicles of con-
sciousness. The Ego, however, enters info the dense body
and connects these organless vehicles with the ])hysical
sense-centers and thus attains the waking state of con-
sciousness in the Physical World.
The student should iiarficularly note that it is because
of their connection with the splendidly organized median-
76 EOSTCRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
ism of the dense body that these higher veliicles become of
value at present. He will thus avoid a mistake frequently
made by people who, when they come into the knowledge
that there are higher bodies, grow to despise the dense
vehicle; to speak of it as "low" and "vile" — turning their
eyes to heaven and wishing that they might soon be able
to leave this earthly lump of clay and fly about in their
"higher vehicles."
These people generally do not realize the difference be-
tween "higher" and "perfect." Certainly, tlie dense body
is the lowest vehicle in the sense that it is the most un-
wieldy, correlating man to the world of sense with all the
limitations thus implied. As stated, it has an enormous
period of evolution back of it; is in its fourth stage o*"
development and has now reached a great and marvelous
degree of efficiency. It will, in time, reach perfection,
but even at present it is the best organized of man's vehi-
cles. The vital body is in its third stage of evolution, and
less completely organized than tlie dense body. The desire
body and the mind are, as yet, mere clouds — almost en-
tirely unorganized. In the very lowest human beings
these vehicles are not even definite ovoids ; tliey are more
or less undefined in form.
The dense body is a wonderfully constructed instrument
and should be recognized as such In* everyone pretending
to have any knowledge of the constitution of man. Observe
the femur, for instance. This l)onc carries the entire
weight of the Ijody. On the outside it is built of a thin
layer of compact bone, strengthened on the inside by beams
and cross-beams of cancellated bone, in such a marvelous
manner that the most skilled bridge or construction en-
gineer could never accomplish the feat of building a pillar
of equal strength with so little weight. The bones of the
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 77
skull are built in a similar luanner, always the least possible
material is used and the maximum of strength obtained.
Consider the wisdom manifested in the construction of the
heart and then question if this superb mechanism deserves
to be despised. The wise man is grateful for his dense
body and takes the best possible care of it, because he knows
that it is the most valuable of his present instruments.
The animal spirit has in its descent reached only the
Desire World. It has not yet evolved to the point where
it can "enter" a dense body. Therefore the animal has no
individual indwelling spirit, but a group-spirit, which
directs it from without. The animal has the dense body,
the vital body and the desire body, but the group-sjiirit
which directs it is outside. The vital body and the do>ire
body of an animal are not entirely within the dense body,
especially where the head is concerned. For instance, the
etheric head of a horse projects far beyond and above the
dense physical head. When, as in rare cases it hapjK'iis,
the etheric head of a horse draws iuto the head of the
dense body, that horse can learn to read, count and work
examples in elementary aritlimetic. To this jwculiarity is
also due the fact that horses, dogs, cats and other domesti-
cated animals sense the Desire World, though not always
realizing the dilforence Ix-tween it and the Physical World.
A horsf will shy at the sight of a figure invisible to the
driver; a cat will go through the nuitions of i-ul)hing itself
against invisible legs. The cat sees the ghost, however,
without realizing that it has no dense legs available for
frictional purposes. The dog, wiser than cat or horse, will
often sense that there is something he does not under-
stand about the appearance of a dead master whose hands it
cannot lick. It will howl mournfully and slink into a
corner with its tail between its legs. The following illus-
18 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
tint ion may perliaps bo of service to sliow the difference
between the man wiih liis iiidwcllinir s])irit. and the animal
with its <iroup-spirit.
Let us imagine a room divided bv means of a curtsiin
one side of the curtain representing tlie Desire Workl and
the other the Physical. There are two men in the room,
one in each division ; they cannot see each other, nor can
they get into the same division. Tliere are, however, ten
holes in the curtain and the man wlio is in the division
representing the Desire World can ])ut his ten fingers
througli these holes into the other division, representing
the Physical World. He now furnishes an excellent rep-
resentation of the group-spirit whicli is in the Desire
World. The fingers represent the animals belonging to
one species. He is able to move them as he wills, but he
cannot use them as freely nor as intelligently as the man
who is walking about in the Physical division uses his body.
The latter sees the fingers which are thrust through the
curtain and he observes that they all move, but he does
not see the connection between them. To him it appears
as if they were all separate and distinct from one another.
He cannot see that they are the fingers of the man behind
the veil and are governed in their movements by his in-
telligence. If he hurts one of the fingers, it is not only
the finger that he hurts, l)ut chiefly the man on the other
side of the curtain. Tf an animal i- hurt, it suffers, but not
to the degree that the group-s]urit does. The finger
has no individualized consciousness ; it moves as the man
dictates — so do the animals move as the group-spirit dic-
tates. We hear of "animal instinct"' and "blind instinct."
There is no such vague, indefinite thing as "blind'' in-
stinct. There is nothing "blind" about the way the group-
spirit guides its members — there is Wisdom, spelled with
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 79
capitals. The trained clairvoyant, when functioning in the
Desire World, can communicate with these spirits of the
animal species and finds them much more intelligent than
a large percentage of human beings. He can see the mar-
velous insight they display in marshaling the animals
which are their physical bodies.
It is the spirit of the group which gathers its flocks of
birds in the fall and compels them to migrate to the south,
neither too early nor too late to e^^cape the winter's cbilly
blast; that directs their return in the spring, causing them
to fly at just the proper altitude, which differs for the
different species.
The group-spirit of the beaver teaches it to build its
dam across a stream at exactly the jiroper angle. It con-
siders the rapidity of tlie flow, and all the circumstance^:,
precisely as a skilled engineer would do, showing that it is
as up-to-date in every particular of the craft as the col-
lege-bred, technically-educated man. It is the wisdom of
the group-spirit that directs the building of tlic hexagon
cell of tlie bee with such geometrical nicety; tliat teaclies
the snail to fashion its house in an accurate, beautiful
spiral; that teaches the ocean mollusk the art of decorat-
ing its iridescent shell. Wisdom, wisdom everywhere ! so
grand, so great that one who looks with an observant eye
is filled witii amazement and reverence.
At this point tlie tliought will naturally occur that if the
animal group-spirit is so wise, considering the short period
of evolution of the animal as compared with that of man,
why docs not the latter display wisdom to a much greater
degree and why must man be taught to build dams and
geometrize. all of which the group-spirit does without
being taught ?
The answer to that question has to do with the descent of
no KOSICRUCIAX COSMO-CONX'EPTION
the Universal Spirit into matter of ever-increasing density.
In the higher Worlds, where its vehicles are fewer and
finer, it is in closer touch with cosmic wisdom which shines
out in a manner inconceivable in the dense Physical
World, but as the spirit descends, the light of wisdom
becomes temporarily more and more dimmed, until in the
densest of all the Worlds, it is held almost entirely in
abeyance.
An illustration will make this clearer. ^J'lie hand is
man's most valuable servant; its dexterity enables it to
respond to his slightest bidding. In some vocations, such
as bank teller, the delicate touch of the hand becomes so
sensitive, that it is able to distinguish a counterfeit coin
from a genuine in a way so marvelous that one would
almost think the hand were endowed with individual in-
telligence.
Its greatest efficiency is perhaps readied in the produc-
tion of music. It is capable of producing the most beauti-
ful, soul-stirring melodies. The delicate, caressing touch
of the hand elicits the tenderest strains of soul-speech from
the instrument, telling of the sorrows, the Joys, the hopes,
the fears and the longings of the soul in a way that noth-
ing but music can do. It is the language of the heaven
world, the spirit's true home, and comes to the divine
f]);iik imprisoned in flesh as a message from its native land.
I\IuHic a])peals to all, regardless of race, creed, or other
worldly distinction. 'Jlic higher and more spiritual the
individual tlic plainer does it speak to liim and even "the
savage breast" is not unmoved by it.
Let us now imagine a master-musician putting on thin
gloves and trving to ]ilay his violin. We note at once that
the delicate toudi is less subtle; the soul of the music is
gone. If he puts another and a heavier pair of gloves over
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 81
the first pair, his hand is ham])ered to such an extent that
he may occasionally create a discord instead of the former
harmony. Should he at last ])iit on. in addition to the
two pairs of gloves already hampering him. a pair of still
heaviei' mittens, he would, temjjorarily. be entirely unable
t(t play, and one who had not heard him ])lay })revioasly
to the time he i)Ut on the gloves and the mittens, would
naturally think that he had never been able to do so,
especially if ignorant of the hampciing of his hands.
So it is with the Spirit ; every stcj) down, every descent
into coai'ser mattei' is to it what the putting on of a ])air
of gloves would be to the musician. Kvery step down
limits its i)Ower of exjjressioii until it has become accus-
t-nuMl to the limitations and has found its focus, in the
^ame way that the eye must find its focus after we enter a
hou.'.e on a bright summei' day. The jiupil of the eye con-
tracts to its limit in the glare of the sun and on entei'ing
the house all seems dark ; but, as the pupil expands, and
admits the light, the man is enabled to see as well in the
dimmer light of the house as he did in the sunlight.
The ])urpo.se of nmn's evolution here is to enable him
to find his focus in the Physical World, where at i)resent
the light of wisdom seems ob.scured. But when in time
we have "found the light," the wisdom of nmn will shine
forth in his actions, and far surpass the wisdom eq)i'essed
. by the group-spirit of the animal.
Be.sides, a distinction must be made between ttie ^loup
spii'it and the vii-gin spirits of the life wave now express-
ing itself as animals. The group-spirit belongs to a dif-
ferent evolution and is the guardian of the animal si)irit>i.
The dense l)ody in which we function is composed of
numerous cells, each having .se|)arate cell-con,sciousness.
though of a very low order. While these cells form part cf
82 KUSIOKUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
our body tliey are suhjcctod to and dominated by our
consciousness. An animal groujj-spirit functions in a spirit-
■iiiil hoJi/, wliicli is its lowest vehicle. ^^Fliis vehicle consists
of a varying number of virgin spirits imbued for the time
being with the consciousness of the group-spirit. The
latter directs the vehicles built by the virgin spirits in its
chaige, caring for them and helping them to evolve their
vehii'les. As its wards evolve, the group-spirit also evolves,
undergoing a series of metamorphoses, in a manner similar
to that in which we grow and gain experience by taking
into our bodies the cells of the food we eat. thereby also
raising their consciousness by enduing them with ours for
a time.
'Flius while a separate, self-conscious Ego is witliin each
human body and dominates the actions of its particular
vehicle, tlie spirit of tlie separate animal is not yet individ-
ualized and self-conscious, but forms part of the vehicle of
a self-conscious entity belonging to a different evolution —
the group-sjiirit.
This group-spirit dominates tlie actions of the animals
in ])armony witli cosmic law, \intil the virgin s]iirits in its
charge shall have gained self-consciousness and become
human. Then tliey will gradually manifest wills of their
own, gaining mon' and more freedom from the group-spirit
and becoming lesponsiljle for their own actions. The group-
spirit will influence them, however (although in a de-
creasing degree), as race, tribe, community, or family
spirit until each individual has become capable of acting
in full harmony with cosmic law. Not until that time will
the Ego 1x3 entirely free and independent of the group-
spirit, which will then enter a higher phase of evolu-
tion.
The position occupied by the group-spirit in the Desire
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 83
World gives to the animal a consciousness different from
tliat of man, who has a clear, definite waking conscious-
ness. Man sees things outside of himself in sharp, dis-
tinct outlines. Owing to the spiral path of evolution, the
higher domestic aninuils, particularly the dog, horse, cat
and elephant see oljjects in somewhat the same way, though
perhaps not so clearly defined. All other animals have
an internal "picture consciousness" similar to the dream-
state in man. When such an animal is confronted by an
object, a picture is immediately perceived icithin, accom-
panied by a strong impression that the object is inimical
or beneficial to its welfare. If the feeling is one of fear,
it is associated with a suggestion from the group-spirit how
to escape the threatened danger. This negative state of
consciousness renders it easy for the groujj-spirit to guide
the dense bodies of its charges by suggestion, a> the animals
have no will of their own.
^lan is not so easily managed from without, either with
or without his consent. As evolution progres'^es and man's
will develops more and more, he will become non-amenable
to outside suggestion and free to do as he plenses regard-
less of suggestions from others. This is the cliiel' difference
between man and the other kingdoms. They a-vt accord-
ing to law and the dictates of the group-spiiit (which we
call instinct), while man is becoming more and more a
law unto himself. We do not ask the mineral wliother
or not it will crystallize, nor the flower whether it v.ill or
will not bloom, nor the lion whether it will or will not
cease to prey. They are all, in the smallest as in the great-
est matter, under the absolute domination of the grouji-
spirit, being without free will and initiative which, in
some degree, are possessed by every human Ijeing. All
animals of the same species look nearly alike, because they
34 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
emanate from the same group-spirit, while among the fif-
teen hundred millions of human heings who people the
Earth no two look exactly alike, not even twins when ado-
lescent, because the stamp tliat is put ujwn each by the
indwelling individual Ego makes the difference in appear-
ance as well as in cliaracter.
That all oxen thrive on grass, and all lions eat flesh,
while "one man's moat is another man's poison" is an-
other illustration of the all-inclusive influence of the
group-spirit as contrasted with the Ego which makes each
human being require a different proportion of food from
every other. Doctors note with perplexity the same pecu-
liarity in administering medicine. Its acts differently
upon different individuals, while tlie same medicine will
produce identical effects on two animals of the same spe-
cies, owing to the fact that animals all follow the dictates
of the group-spirit and Cosmic Law — always act similarly
in identical circumstances. Man alone is, in some measure,
able to follow his own desires within certain limits. That
his mistakes ai'e many and grievons, is granted, and to
many it might seem better if lie ^^■ere forced into the right
way, but if this were done, he would never learn to do
right. Lessons of discrimination between good and evil
cannot be learned unless he is free to choose his own course
and has learned to eschew the wrong as a veritable "womb
of pain." If he did right only because he had no choice,
and had no chance to do otherwise, he would be Imt an
automaton and not an evolving God. As the builder
learns by his mistakes, correcting past errors in future
buildings, so man, by means of his blunders, and the pain
they cause him, is attaining to a higher (because self-
conscious) Avisdom than the animal, which acts wisely
because it is impelled to action by the group-spirit. In
THE FOUR KINGDOMS 85
time the animal will become liuiiian, liave liberty of dioice
and will make mistakes and learn by tlietn as we do now.
Diagram 4 shows that the group-spirit of the plant
kingdom has its lowest vehicle in the Eegion of Conevete
Thought. It is two steps removed from its dense vehicle
and consequently the plants have a consciousness corre-
sponding to that of dreamless sleep. The group-spirit of
the mineral has its lowest vehicle in the Eegion of Abstract
Thought and it is, therefore, three steps removed from its
dense vehicle; hence it is in a state of deep unconsciousness
similar to the trance condition.
We have now shown that man is an individual indwell-
ing spirit, an Ego separate from all other entities, directing
and working in one set of vehicles from within, and that
plants and animals are directed from witliout by a group-
spirit having jurisdiction over a number of animals or
plants in our Physical World. They are separate only in
appearance.
The relations. of plant, animal and man to the life cur-
rents in the Earth's atmosphere are symbolically repre-
sented by the cross. The ^Mineral Kingdom is not repre-
sented, Ijccause as we have seen, it possesses no individual
vital body, hence cannot be the vehicle for currents belong-
ing to the higher realms. Plato, Avho was an Initiate, often
gave out occult truths. He said "The World-Soul is
crucified."'
The lower limb of the cross indicates the jilant with its
root in the chemical mineral soil. The group-spirits of
plants arc at the center of the Earth. They are (it will
be remembered) in the IJegion of Concrete Thought, which
inter-penetrates the Earth, as do all the other Worlds.
From these group-spirits flow streams or currents in all
8G H08ICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
directions to the periphery of the Earth, passing outward
through the length oi" plant or tree.
Man is re])resontcd by the upper limb; he is the inverted
plant. The phuit takes its food through the root. Man
takes his food thn)ii,<;h the head. The plant stretches its
generative organs towards the sun. Man, the inverted
jdant, turns his towards the center of the earth. The plant
is suslaiiied liv thi- spiritual cun-ents of the groiip-spii'it in
the center of the earth, which enter into it by way of the
root. Later it will be shown that the highest spiritual
influence comes to man ffom the sun, which sends its rays
through man, the inverted jjlant, from the head downwards.
The plant inhales the poisonous carbon-dioxide exhaled by
man and exhales the life-giving oxygen used by him.
The animal, which is symbolized by the horizontal limb
of the cross, is between the plant and the man. Its spine
is in a horizontal ])osition and through it play the cur-
rents of the auinuil group-spirit which encircle the Eaitii.
Xo animal can be made to remain constantly uj)righl,
because in that case the currents of t".;e group-spirit could
not guide it, aiul if it were not sufficiently individualized to
endure the spiritual currents which enter the vertical
luuuan si)ine, it would die. Tt is necessary that a vehicle
for the expression of an .individual Ego shall have three
things — an upright walk, that it nuiy come into touch with
the currents just mentioned ; an upi-ight larynx, for only
such a larynx is capalde of speech (parrots and starlings
are examples of this efl'ect of the ujjright larynx) ; and,
owing to the solar currents, it must have warm blood. The
latter is of the utmost im])ortance to the Ego, which will be
logically explained and illustrated later. These refjuisites
are simply mentioned here as the last words on the status
of the four kingdoms in relation to each other and to the
Worlds.
CHAPTER ITT.
Man and the Method of Evolution.
Activities of Life; Memonj and >"^ouI-Grouih.
OVR study thus far of the seven Worlds or states of
matter has shown us that each serves a definite
purpose in the eeononiy of nature, and that God,
the Great Spirit, in A\'iioni we actually and in fact "live
and move and have our l>eing,"" is the Power that per-
meates and sustains the whole Universe with Its Life; hut
while that Life tlows into and is immanent in every atom of
the six lower Worlds and all contained therein, in the
Seventh — the ]ii<rhest — the Triune God alone is.
The next highest or sixth realm is the World of Virgin
Spirits. Here those sparks from tiie divine "Flam-" have
their heing hefore they commence their long pilgrimage
througli the five denser Worlds for the purpose of develop-
ing latent potentialities into dynamic powers. As the seed
unfolds its hidden possibilities by being buried in the soil,
so tiiese virgin si)irits will, in time, when they have passed
through matter (the school of experience), also become
divine "Flames,'' capable of l)ringing forth universes from
themselves.
The five Worlds constitute the field of man's evolution,
the three lower or denser being the scene of the present
phase of his development. We will now consider him as
related to these fire Worlds by nu'ans of his appropriate
vehicles, remembering the two grand divisions into which
two of these Worlds are divided, and that man has a vehicle
for each of these divisions.
87
88 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONXEPTION
THE SEVENFOLD CONSTITUTION OF MAN.
World or l!c()ion. Corrcspomling Vthicle.
5. .World of Uiviiip Spirit Divine Sjnrit ^ m, >,
4. . Workl of Life Spirit Life Spirit ! i,J^ „ , , The
f Work! of ) Region of Abstract Thought 11^;";^ Pg«
3 J J. Human Spirit J ^ J
(Thouy;ht ^ Kegiou of Concrete Thought. .Mind. . (The Mind is
the ni 1 i r u r
through uhich
the threefold
spirit reflects
itself i u t h e
threefold
body; the fo-
cussing - point.
See Dlagr. L)
2. .Desire World Desire Body "i rp,,„ mi i-„i i t. i,. .
i>i t:^4.i • r> ■ i--i 1 T3 1 " I 1 he J hroe-iold Lodv
1 hys- I Ltheric Kegion. . \ ital Body ! ,. oi i ^ ^i
, . •, I ^ • > the Shaihiw of the
^ W- 1 1 I r'l ■ 1 u • n Tj 1 Tlireef old Spirit.
World ) (hcnucal Kegion. Dense Body J ^
]n the waking state these vehicles are all to^jether. They
inter-^K'netrate one another as the hlood, the lymph, and
other juices of tlie hody inter-penetrato. Thus is the Ego
enabled to act in the Physical World.
We ourselves, as Egos, function directly in the subtle
substance of the Kegion of Aljstract Thought, ^vhich we
have specialized within tlie ])eriplicry of our individual
aura. Tlience we view the iiHi)rossions made Ijy the outer
world upon the vital body througli the senses, together with
tlie feelings and emotions generated by them in the desire
body, and mirrored in the mind.
From tliese mental images we form our conclusions, in
the substance of tlie Kegion of Al)stract Thought, con-
cerning the subjects with which they deal. These con-
clusions are ideas. By the power of will we project an
id<'a through the mind, whei'e it takes concrete shape as
a thought-form by drawing mind-stuff around itself from
the Kegion of Concrete Thought.
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 89
The mind is like the projcctiiif^ lens of a stereoptieon.
It projects the image in one of three direetions, according
to the will of the thinker, which ensouls the thoufjht-form.
(1) It may be projected a^jainst the desire l)ody in an
endeavor to arouse feeling which will lead to immediate
action.
(a) If the thought awakens Interest, one of the twin
forces, Attraction or Repulsion, will be stirred up.
If Attraction, the centripetal force, is aroused, it se-zes
the thought, whirls it into the desire body, endows the
image with added life and clothes it with desire-stuff.
Then the thought is a])le to act on the etheric brain, and
I)i-opel the vital force through the appropriate brain (en-
ters and nerves to the voluntary muscles which perform
the necessai'y action. Thus the force in the thought is
exi)endcd and the image I'cmains in the ether of the vital
body as memory of the act and the feeling that caused it.
(b) Repulsion is the centrifugal force iwA if that is
aroused by the thought there will be a struggle between
the spiritual force (the will of the man) within the
thought-form, and the desire body. This is the battle be-
tween conscience and desire, the higher and the lower
nature. The spiritual force, in si)ite of resistance, will
seek to clothe the thought-foi-m in the desii-e-stuff needed
to manipulate the l)raiu and muscles. The force of Re-
pulsion will endeavor to scatter the appropriated material
and oust the thought. If the s])iritual energy is strong
it may force its way through to the brain centers and hold
its clothing of desire-stuff while manipulating the vital
force, thus compelling action, and will then leave upon
the memory a vivid imi)ression of the struggle and the
victory. If the spiritual energy is exhausted before action
has resulted, it will l)e ovei'come ])y the force of Rejud-
90 EOSICKUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
sioD, and will be stored in the iiicmorv, as are all other
thought-forms when they have expended their energy-
(c) If the thought-form meets the withering feeling
of Indifference it depends upon the spiritual energy con-
tained in it whether it will be able to compel action, or
simply leave a weak impress upon the reflecting ether of
the vital body after its kinetic energy has l^en exhausted.
(2) Where no immediate action is called for by the
mental images of impacts from without, these may be
projected directly upon the reflecting ether, together with
the thoughts occasioned by them, to 1)e used at some future
time. Tire spirit, working through the mind, has instant
access to the storehouse of conscious memory and may at
any time resurrect any of the pictures found there, endue
thc'iii with new spiritual force, and project them u])on
the desire body to compel action. Each time such a pic-
ture is thus used it will gain in vividness, strength and
efficiency, and will compel action along its particular line
more" readily than on previous occasions, because it cuts
grooves, and produces the phenomenon of thought, "gain-
ing" or "growing" upon us by repetition.
(3) A third way of using a thought- form is when the
thinker projects it toward another mind to act as a sug-
gestion, to carry information, etc., as in thought-trans-
ference, or it may be directed against the desire body of
another person to compel action, as in the case of a hypno-
tist influencing a victim at a distance. It will then act
in precisely the same manner as if it were the victim's
own thought. If in line with his proclivities it will act
as per paragraph la. If contrary to his nature, as des-
cribed in lb or Ic.
When the work designed for such a projected thought-
form has been accomplished, or its energy expended in
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 91
vain attempts to achieve its object, it gravitates back to
its creator, bearing with it the indehble record of the jour-
ney. Its success or failure is imprinted on the negative
atoms of the reflecting etlier of its creator's vital body,
where it forms that part of the record of tlie thinker's
life and action which is sometimes called the sub-conscious
mind.
This record is much more important than the memory
to which we have conscious access, for the latter is made
up from imperfect and illusive sense-perceptions and is
the voluntary memory or conscious mind.
Tlie involuntary memory or sub-conscious mind comes
into being in a different way, altogether beyond our con-
trol at present. As the ether carries to the sensitive film
in the camera an accurate impresion of the surrounding
landscape, taking in the minutest detail regardless of
wliether the photographer has observed it or not, so the
ether contained in the air we inspire carries with it an
accurate and detailed picture of all our surroundings.
Xot only of material things, but also the conditions ex-
isting each moment within our aura. The slightest
thought, feeling or emotion is transmitted to the lungs,
where it is injected into the blood. The blood is one of
the highest products of the vital body as it is the carrier
of nourishment to every part of the body, and the direct
vehicle of the Ego. The pictures it contiiins are impressed
upon the negative atoms of the vital l)ody, to serve as
arbiters of the man's destiny in the post mortem state.
The memory (or so-called mind), both conscious and
sub-conscious, relates irholh/ to the experiences of this
life. It consists of impressions of events on the vital body.
These may l)e changed or even eradicated, as noted in
the explanation concerning the forgiveness of sins which
92 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
is ji;ivou a few pajjcs further on, wiiidi eliaiige ur eradi-
cation depends upon the elimination of these impressions
from the ether of the vital body.
There is also a superconseious meiuory. That is the
stoiehouse of all faculties acquired and knowledge gained
in previous lives, though jiei-haps latent in the present
life. This record is indelibly engraven on the life
spirit. It manifests ordinarily, though not to the full
extent, as conscience and charactei" which ensoul all
thought-forms, sometimes as counsellor, sometimes com-
pelling action with resistless force, even contrary to
reason and desire.
In many women, in whom the vital body is positive, and
in advanced people of either sex where the vital body has
been sensitized by a pure and holy life, by j)rayer and
concentration, this superconseious memory inherent in
the life spirit is occasionally, to some extent, above the
necessity of clothing itself in mind stuff and desire mat-
ter in order to compel action. It docs not always need to
incur the danger of being subjected to and perhaps over-
ruled by a process of reasoning. Sometimes, in the form
of intuition or teaching from within, it impresses itself
directly upon the reflecting ether of the vital body. The
more readily we learn to recognize it and follow its dic-
tates, the oftener it will speak, to our eternal welfare.
By their activities during waking hours the desire body
and the mind are constantly destroying the dense vehicle.
Every thought and movement breaks down tissue. On the
other hand, the vital body faithfully endeavors to restore
harmony and build up what the other vehicles areteai-ing
down. It is not able, however, to entirely withstand the
powerful onslaughts of the impulses and thoughts. It
gradually loses ground and at last there comes a time
MAN AND THE METIIUU OF EVOLUTJON *J3
when it collapses. Its "points" shrivel-up, so to say. The
vital fluid ceases to flow along the nerves in sufficient
quantity; the hotly l>econies drowsy, the Thinker is ham-
pered hy its drowsiness and forced to withdraw, taking the
desire hody with him. This withdrawal of the higher
vehicles leaves the dense hody interpenetrated l)y the \ital
body in the senseless state we call sleep.
Sleep, however, is not hy any means an inactive state,
as jH'ople generally suppose. ]f it were, the l)ody would
he no different on awakening in the nioi'ning from its con-
dition when it went to sleep at night; its fatigue would
he just as great. On the contrary, sleep is a ])criod of
intense activity and the more intense it is the greater its
value, for it eliminates the poisons resulting from tissue
destroyed hy the menial -And ])liysical activities of the day.
The tissues are re-built and tlie rhythm of the hody re-
stored. The more thoroughly this work is done the greater
the henefit accruing from sleep.
The Desire World is an ocean of wisdom and harmony.
Into this the Ego lakes the mind and the desire l)ody
when the lower vehicles have been left in sleep. There the
first care of the Ego is the restoration of the rhythm and
harmony of the mind and the desire body. This res-
toration is accomj)lished gradually as the harmonious
viljrations of the Desire World flow through them. There
is an essence in the Desire Woiid corresponding to the
vital fluid which ])ermeates the dense hody hy means of
the vital body. The higher vehicles, as it were, steep tliem-
selves in this elixir of life. When strengthened, they
commence work on the vital body, which was left with
the slw^ping dense hody. "^I'Ikmi tli»> vital body l>ogins tc
specialize the solar energy anew, rebuilding the dense
94 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
body, using jiartioularly the chemical ether as its medium
in the process of restoration.
It is this activity of the different veliicles during sleep
which forms the basis for the activity of the following
day. Without that there would be no awakening, for the
Ego was forced to abandon his veliicles because their weari-
ness rendered them useless. If the work of removing tliat
fatigue were not done, the bodies would remain asleep,
as sometimes happens in natural trance. It is just because
of this harmonizing, recu])erative activity that sleep is
better than doctor or medicine in preserving health. Mere
rest is nothing in comparison with sleep. It is only while
the higher vehicles are in the Desire World that there is
a total sus]3ension of Avaste and an influx of restoring
force. It is true that during rest the vital body is not
hampered in its work by tissue being broken down by
active motion and tense muscles, but still it must contend
with the wasting energy of thought and it does not then
receive the outside recuperative force from the desire body
as during sleep.
It happens, however, that ar times the desire body does
not fully withdraw, so that part of it remains connected
witli the vital I)ody, the vehicle for sense-perception and
memory. Tlic result is that restoration is only partly ac-
complished and tliat tlie scenes and actions of the Desire
World are brought into the physical consciousness- as
dreams. Of course most dreams are confused as the axis
of perception is askew, because of the improper relation
of one body to another. The memory is also confused by
this incongruous relation of the vehicles and as a result
of the restoring force dream-filled sleep is restless and the
body feels tired on awakening.
During life the threefold spirit, the Ego, works on and
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION
95
in the tlireefold body, to which it is connected ])}' the link
of mind. This work brings the threefohl soul into being.
The soul is the spiritualized product of the body.
Diasrdin 5
Dlagrani 5 shows the Ti-nfuld Constitution of Man.
Man la a threefold Spirit, possesslnj; n Mind liy means of which he gOT-
erns a threefold Rody, which he emanated from hlm»elf to gather experience.
This threefold htnly he transiuutea Into n threefold Soul. U|Min which he nour-
ishes himself from Impotence to omnipotence.
Tlie nivfne Spirit C emanatej f The Dense Rody i extracting { » onsclous Soul
The I.lfe Spirit ] from < The Vital Rody [• as < Intellectual Soul
The Human Spirit ( Itself ( The Desire Rody ) pahulum ( Kmotlonal Soul
The mirror of Mind also contrlhute.i Increasingly to spiritual growth as
the thoughts which it transmits to and from the Spirit polish it to greater
brightness, sharpening and Intensifying Its focus more and more to a single
point, perfectly Uexlhle and under the control of the Spirit.
96 EOSIf'RUriAX fOSMO-COXCKPTION
As proper food feeds the body in a material sense, so
the activity of the spirit in the dense body, which results
in right action, promotes the growth of the Conscious
Soul. As the forces from the sun play in the vital body
and nourish it, that it may act on the dense body, so the
memory of actions done in the dense body — the desires,
feelings and emotions of tlic desire body and the thoughts
and ideas in the mind — cause the growth of the Intel-
lectual Soul. In like manner the highest desires and emo-
tions of the desire body I'orm the Emotional Soul.
This threefold soul in turn enhances the consciousness
of the threefold spirit.
The Emotional Soul, which is the extract of the desire
body, adds to the etTieient-y of the Human Spirit, which
is the spiritual counterpart of the desire l)ody.
The Intellectual Soul gives added power to the Life
Spirit, because the Intellectual Soul is extracted from the
vital body, which is the material counterpart of the Lite
Spirit.
The Conscious Soul increases the consciousness of the
Divine Spirit because it (the Conscious Soul) is the
extract of the dense body, which latter is the counterpart
of the Divine Spirit.
Dkatii Axn Purgatory.
So man l)uikls and sows until the moment of death ar-
rives. Then the seed-time and the periods of growth and
ripening are past. The harvest time has come, when the
skeleton spectre of Death arrives with his scythe and
hour-glass. That is a good symbol. The skeleton symbol-
izes the relatively permanent part of the body. The
scythe represents the fact that this permanent part, which
MAN AND THE MKTTIOD OF EVOLUTION 97
is about to be harvested by the spirit, is the fruitage of the
life now drawing to a close. The hour-glass in his hand
indicates that the hour does not strike until the full course
has been run in harmony with unvarying laws. "When
tliat moment arrives a separation of the vehicles takes
place. As his life in the Physical World is ended for the
time being, it is not necessary for man to retain his dense
body. The vital body, which as we have explained, also
belongs to the Physical World, is withdrawn by way of
the head, leaving the dense body inanimate.
The higher vehicles — vital body, desire body and mind
— are seen to leave the dense body with a spiral movement,
taking with them the soul of one dense atom. X'ot the
atom itself, but tJic forces that played through it. The
results of the exjjeriences passed through in the dense body
during the life just ended have been impressed upon this
particular atom. AVhile all the other atoms of the dense
body have been renewed from time to time, this permanent
atom has remained. It has remained stable, not only
through one life, but it has been a part of every dense
body ever used by a particular Ego. It is withdrawn at
death only to reawaken at the dawn of another physical
life, to serve again as the nucleus around which is built
the new dense body to be used by the same Ego. It is
therefore called the "Seed-Atom." During life the seed-
atom is situated in the left ventricle of the heart, near the
apex. At death it rises to the brain by way of the pneu-
mogastric nerve, leaving the dense body, together with
the higher vehicles, by way of the sutures between the
parietal and occipital bones.
When the higher vehicles have left the dense body they
are still connected with it by a slender, glistening, silver)-
98 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
cord shaped mucli like two figure sixes, one upright and
one reversed, the two connected at the extremities of the
hooks. (See diagram 5^.)
One end is fastened to the heart bj' means of the seed-
atom, and it is the rupture of the seed-atom which causes
the heart to stop. The cord itself is not snapped until
the panorama of the past life, contained in the vital body,
has been reviewed.
Care should be taken, however, not to cremate or em-
balm the body until at least three days after death, for
while the vital body is with the higher vehicles, and they
are still connected with the dense body by means of the
silver cord, any post mortem examination or other injury
to the dense body will be felt, in a measure, by the man.
The Silver
c
ORD
DIAGRAM
Pr\i kJT rtr _
C^)
5/2
Separation
\^^J^
Cremation should be particularly avoided in the first
three days after death, because it tends to disintegrate the
vital body, which should be kept intact until the pano-
rama of the past life has been etched into the desire body.
The silver cord snaps at the point where the sixes unite,
half remaining with the dense body and the other half
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 99
with the higher vehicles. From the time the cord snaps
the dense body is quite dead.
In the beginning of 1906 Dr. McDougall made a series
of experiments in the Massachusetts (Jeneral Hospital,
to determine, if possible, whether anything not ordinarily
visible left the body at death. For this purpose he con-
structed a pair of scales capable of registering differences
of one-tenth of an ounce.
The dying person and his bed were placed on one of
the platforms of the scale, which was then balanced by
weights placed on the opposite platform. In every in-
stance it was noted that at the precise moment when the
dying person drew the last breath, the platform contain-
ing the weights dropped with a startling suddenness, lift-
ing the bed and the body, thus showing that something
invisible, but having weight, had left the body. There-
u])on the newspapers all over the country announced in
glaring headlines that Dr. McDougall had "weighed the
soul."
Occultism hails with joy the discoveries of modern
science, as they invariably corroborate what occult science
has long taught. ' The experiments of Dr. McDougall
sliowed conclusively that something invisible to ordinary
sight left the body at death, as trained clairvoyants had
seen, and as had been stated in lectures and literature for
many years previous to Dr. ^McDougall's discovery.
But this invisible "something" is not the soul. There
is a great difference. The reporters jump at conclusions
when they state that the scientists have "weighed the
soul." The souh iK'longs to higher realms and can never
be weighed on physical scales, even though they registered
variations of one-mill iontli part of a grain instead of one-
tenth of an ounce.
100 ROSICRUCTAN COSMO CONCEPTION
It was the iiial hodi/ which the ^rienlids weighed. It
is formed of the four ethers and they belong to the Phys-
ical World,
As we have seen, a certain amount of this ether is
''superimposed'' upon the etlier which envelops the parti-
cles of the human body and is confined there during phys-
ical life, adding in a slight degree to the weight of the
dense body of plant, animal and man. In death it escapes ;
hence the diminution in weight noticed by Dr. KcDougall
when the persons with whom he experimented expired.
Dr. McDougall also tried his scales in weighing dying
animals. No diminution was found here, though one of
the animals was a large St. Bernard dog. That was taken
to indicate that animals have no souls. A little later,
however, Professor La V. Twining, head of the Science
Department of the Los Angeles Polytechnic School, ex-
perimented with mice and kittens, which he enclosed in
hermetically sealed glass flasks. His scales were the most
eensitive procurable and were enclosed in a glass case
from which all moisture had been removed. It was found
that all the animals observed lost weight at death. A
good-sized mouse, weighing 12.886 grams, suddenly lost
3.1 milligrams at death.
A kitten used in another experiment lost one hundred
milligrams while dying and at its last gasp it suddenly
lost an additional sixty milligrams. After that it lost
weight slowly, due to evaporation.
Thus the teaching of occult science in regard to the
possession of vital bodies by animals was also vindicated
when sufficiently fine scales were used, and the case where
the rather insensitive scales did not show diminution in
the weight of the St. Bernard dog shoAvs that the vital
bodies of animals are proportionately lighter than in man.
MAX AND THE METHOD OF KVOLL'TIUN lol
"When the "silver cord" has broken in the heart, and
man has been released from his dense body, a moment
of the higliest importance comes to the Ego, and it can-
not be too seriously impressed upon the relatives of a dy-
ing person that it is a great crime against the departing
soul to give expression to loud grief and lamentations, for
it is just then engaged in a matter of supreme importance
and a great deal of tiie value of the past life dej^ends upon
hou- much attention the soul can give to this matter.
This will be made clearer when we come to the descrip-
tion of man's life in the Desire World.
It is also a crime against the dying to administer stim-
ulants Avliicli have the effect of forcing tlie higher veliicles
back into the dense body with a jerk, thus imparting a
great shock to the man. It is no torture to pass out, but it
IS torture to be dragged back to endure furtlier suffering.
Some who have passed out have told investigators that
they had, in that way, been kept dying for hours and had
prayed that their relatives would cease their mistaken
kindness and let them die.
When the man is freed from tlie dense body, wliicli was
the heaviest clog upon liis sj)iritual power (like the heavy
mitten on the hand of the musician in our previous illus-
tration), his spiritual ])o\ver comes back in some measure,
and he is able to read the i)ictures in tlie negative pole of
the reflecting ether of his vital body, which is tlie seat
of the sub-conscious memory.
The whole of his past life passes before his sight like
a ])anoranui, the event.* iKMng presented in reverse oriJer.
The incidents of tlie days immediately preceding death
come first and so on back through nuinhood or woman-
hood to youth, childhood and infancy. Everything is re-
membered.
102 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Tlio man stands as a spectator before this panorama of
his past life. He sees the pictures as they pass and they
imj)ress themselves upon his higher vehicles, but he has
no feeling about them at this time. That is reserved until
the time when he enters into the Desire World, which is
the world of feeling and emotion. At present he is only
in the Etheric Region of the Physical World.
This panorama lasts from a few hours to several days,
depending upon the length of time the man could keep
awake, if necessary. Some people can keep awake only
twelve hours, or even less ; others can do so, upon occasion,
for a number of days, but as long as the man can remain
awake, this panorama lasts.
This featnire of life after death is similar to that which
takes place when one is drowning or falling from a height.
In sucli cases the vital body also leaves the denae body and
the man sees his life in a flash, because he loses conscious-
ness at once. Of course the "silver cord" is not broken,
or there could be no resuscitation.
When the endurance of the vital body has reached its
limit, it collapses in the way described when we were con-
sidering the phenomenon of sleep. During physical life,
when the Ego controls its vehicles, this collapse terminates
the waking hours; after death the collapse of the vital
body terminates the panorama and forces the man to with-
draw into the Desire World; The silver cord breaks at the
point where the "sixes" unite (see diagram 5i), and the
same division is made as during sleep, but with this im-
portant difference, that though the Aatal body returns to the
dense body, it no longer interpenetrates it, but simply
hovers over it. It remains floating over tlie grave, decaying
synchronously with the dense vehicle. Hence, to the trained
clairvoyant, a graveyard is a nauseating sight and if only
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 103
more people could see it as he does, little argument would
be necessary to induce them to change from the present
unsanitary method of disposing of the dead to the more
rational method of cremation, which restores the elements
to their primordial condition without the objectionable
features incident to the process of slow decay.
In leaving the vital body the process is much the same
as when the dense body is discarded. The life forces of
one atom are taken, to be used as a nucleus for the vital
body of a future embodiment. Thus, upon his entrance
into the Desire World the man has the seed-atoms of the
dense and the vital bodies, in addition to the desire body
and the mind.
If the dying man could leave all desires behind, the de-
sire body would very quickly fall away from him, leaving
him free to proceed into the heaven world, but that is not
generally the case. Most people, especially if they die \n
the prime of life, have many ties and much interest m
life on earth. They have not altered their desires because
they have lost their physical bodies. In fact often their
desires are even augmented by a very intense longing to
return. This acts in such a manner as to bind them to
the Desire World in a very unpleasant way. although un-
fortunately, they do not realize it. On the other hand, old
and decrepit persons and those who are weakened by
long illness and are tired of life, pass on very quickly.
The matter may be illustrated by the ease with which
the seed falls out of the ripe fruit, no particle of the flesh
clinging to it, while in the unripe fruit the seed clings
to the flesh with the greatest tenacity. Thus it is espe-
cially hard for people to die who were taken out of their
bodies by accident while at the height of their physical
health and strength, engaged in numerous ways in the
104 ROSIGRUCIAN COSMO:CONCEPTION
activities of physical life ; held by the ties of wife, family,
relatives, friends, pursuits of business and pleasure.
Tlie suicide, who tries to get away from life, only to
find that he is as much alive as ever, is in the most piti-
able plight. He is able to watch those whom he has, per-
haps, disgraced by his act, and worst of all, he has an un-
speakable feeling of being "hollowed out.". The part in
the ovoid aura where the dense body used to be is empty
and although the desire body has taken the form of the
discarded dense body, it feels like an empty shell, because
the creative archetype of the body in the Eogion of Con-
crete Tholight persists as an empty mold, so to speak, as
long as the dense body should properly have lived. When
a person meets a natural death, even in the prime of life,
the activity of the archetype ceases, and the desire body
adjusts itself so as to occupy the whole of the form, but
in the case of the suicide that awful feeling of "empti-
ness" remains until the time comes when, in the natural
course of events, his death would have occurred.
As long as the man entertains the desires connected
with earth life he must stay in his desire body and as the
progress of the individual requires that he pass on to
higher Eegions, the existence in the Desire World must
necessarily become purgative, tending to pujify him from
his binding desires. How this is done is best seen by tak-
ing some radical instances.
The miser who loved his gold in earth life loves it just
as dearly after death ; but in the first place he cannot
acquire any more, because he has no longer a dense body
wherewith to grasp it and worst of all, he cannot even keep
what he hoarded during life. He will, perhaps, go and sit
by his safe and watch the cherished gold or bonds ; but
the, heirs appear and witli, it may he, a stinging jeer at the
IMAN AND THE METHUD OF EVOLUTION 105
"stingy old fool"' (wliom they do not see, but who botli
sees and hears them), will open his safe, and tho"igh he
may throw himself over his gold to protect it, they will
put their hands through him, neither knowing nor caring
that he is there, and will then proceed to spend his hoard,
while he suffers in sorrow and impotent rage.
He will suffer keenly, his sufferings all the more ter-
rible on account of being entirely mental, because the
dense body dulls even suffering to some extent. In the
Desire World, however, these sufferings have full sway and
the man suffers until he learns that gold may be a curse.
Thus he gradually becomes contented with his lot and at
last is freed from his desire body and is ready to go on.
Or take the case of the drunkard. He is just as fond
of intoxicants after death as he was before. It is not the
dense body that craves drink. It is made sick by alcohol
and would rather be without it. It vainly protests in
different ways, but the desire body of the drunkard craves
the drink and forces the dense body to take it, that the
desire body may have the sensation of pleasure resulting
from the increased vibration. That desire remains after
the death of the dense body, but the drunkard has in his
desire bpdy neither mouth to drink nor stomach to contain
physical liquor. He may and does get into saloons, wliere
he interjiolntcs his body into the bodies of the drinkers
to get a little of their vibrations by induction, l)ut that
is too weak to give him much satisfaction. He may and
also does sometimes get inside a whiskey cask, but tliat
also ii? of no avail either for there are in the cask no such
fumes as are generated in tlio digestive organs of a tip-
pler. It has no effect upon him and he is like a man in
an open boat on the ocean, "Water, water everywhere,
but not a drop to drink;" consequently he suffers intensely.
106 ROSICRUCTAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
In time, however, he learns the uselessness of longing for
drink which he cannot obtain. As with so many of our
desires in the Earth life, all desires in the Desire World
die for want of opportunity to gratify them. When the
drunkard has been purged, he is ready, so far as this habit
is concerned, to leave this state of "purgatory" and ascend
into the heaven world.
Thus we see that it is not an avenging Deity that makes
purgatory or hell for us, but our own individual evil habits
and acts. According to the intensity of our desires will
be the time and suffering entailed in their expurgation.
In the cases mentioned it would have been no suffering
to the drunkard to lose his worldly possessions. If he had
any, he did not cling to tliem. Neither would it have
caused the miser any pain to have l^een deprived of in-
toxicants. It is safe to say that he would not have cared
if there were not a drop of liquor in the world. But he
did care about his gold, and the drunkard cared about
his drink and so the unerring law gave to each that which
was needed to purge him of his unhallowed desires and
evil habits.
This is the law that is symbolized in the scythe of the
reaper, Death; the law that says, "whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap." It is the law of cause
and effect, which rules all things in the three Worlds, in
every realm of nature — physical, ' moral and mental.
Everywhere it works inexorably, adjusting all tilings, re-
storing the equilibrium wherever even the slightest action
has brought about a disturbance, as all action must. The
result may be manifest immediately or it may be delayed
for years or for lives, but sometime, somewhere, just and
equal retribution will be made. The student should par-
ticularly note that its work is absolutely impersonal.
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 107
There is in the universe neither reward nor punishment.
All is the result of invariable law. The action of this
law will be more fully elucidated in the next chapter,
where we shall find it associated with another Great Law
of the Cosmos, which also operates in the evolution of
man. The law Ave are now considering is called the law
of Consequence.
In the Desire "World it operates in purging man of the
baser desires and the correction of the weaknesses and
vices w'hich hinder his progress, by making him suffer in
the manner best adapted to that purpose. If he has
made others suffer, or has dealt unjustly with them, he
will be made to suffer in that identical way. Be it noted,
however, that if a person has been subject to vices, or has
done wrong to others, but has overcome his vices, or re-
pented and, as far as possible, made right the wrong
done, such repentance, reform and restitution have
purged him of those special vices and evil acts. The
equilibrium has been restored and the lesson learned
during that embodiment, and therefore will not be a
cause of suffering after death.
In the Desire World life is lived about three times as
rapidly as in the Physical World. A man who has lived
to be fifty years of age in the Physical World would live
through the same life events in the Desire World in about
sixteen years. This is, of course, only a general gauge.
There are pereons who remain in the Desire World much
longer than their term of physical life. Others again,
who have led lives with few gross desiras, pass through
in a much shorter period, but the measure above given
is very nearly correct for the average man of the pres-
ent day.
It will be remembered that as the man leaves the dense
108 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
body at death, his past life passes before him in pictures;
but at that time he has no feeling concerning them.
During his life in the Desire World al!^o these life pic-
tures roll backwards, as before; but now the man has all
the feelings that it is possible for him to have as, one by
one, the scenes pass before him. Every incident in his
past life is now lived over again. Wlicii he comes to a
point where he has injured someone, lie himself feels tlie
pain as tlie injured person felt it. He lives througli all
the sorrow and suffering he has caused to others and
learns just how painful is the hurt and how hard to bear
is tlic sorrow he has caused. In addition there is the fact
already mentioned tliat tlie suffering is much keener bo-
cause he has no dense body to dull the ])ain. Perhaps that
is why the speed of life tlicre is tripled — tliat tlie suffer-
ing may lose in duration what it gains in sharpness. ISTat-
ture's measures are wonderfully just and true.
There is another characteristic peculiar to this phase
of post mortem existence which is intimately connected
with the fact (already mentioned) tliat distance is almost
aniiihihited in the Desire "World. When a man dies, he
at once seems to swell out in his vital body; lie appears
to himself to grow into immense proportions. This feel-
ing is due to the fact, not tliat the l)ody really grows, but
that the perceptive faculties receive so many impressions
from various sources, all seeming to be close at hand.
.The same is true of the desire body. The man seems to
be present with all tlie people with whom on earth he
had relations of a nature which require correction. Tf
he has injured one man in San Francisco and another in
New York, he will feel as if part of him were in each
place. This gives him a peculiar feeling of being cut to
pieces.
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 109
The student will now understand the importance of the
panorama of the past life during the purgative existence,
where this panorama is realized in definite feelings. If
it lasted long and the man were undisturbed, the ful'i,
deep, clear impression etched into the desire body would
make life in the Desire World more viv-id and conscious
and the purgation more thorough than if, because of dis-
tress- at the loud outbursts of grief on the part of his rela-
tives, at the death bed and during the three-day period
previously mentioned the man had only a vague impres-
sion of his past life. The spirit which has etched a deep
clear record into its desire body will realize the mistakes
of the past life so much more clearly and definitely than
if the pictures were blurred on account of the individual's
attention being diverted by the suffering and grief around
him. His feeling concerning the things which cause his
present suffering in the Desire AYorld will Ix; much more
definite if they are drawn from a distinct panoramic im-
pression than if the duration of the process were short.
This sharp, clear-cut feeling is of immense value in
future lives. It stamps upon the seed-atom of the desire
body an ineffaceable impression of itself. The experiences
will he forgotten in succeeding lives, hnt the Feeling re-
mains. When opportunities occur to repeat the error in
later lives, this Feeling will speak to us clearly and un-
mistakably. It is the "still, small voice" which warns
us, though we do not know why; but the clearer au^ more
definite the panoramas of past lives have been, the oftener,
stronger and clearer shall we hear this voice. Thus we
see how important it is that we leave the passing spirit in
absolute quietness after death. By so doing we help it
to reap the greatest jiossiblc l)onefit from the life just
ended and to avoid perpetuating the same mistakes in
110 KOSICKUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
future lives, ^liile our selfish, hysterical lamentations may
deprive it of much of the value of the life it has just con-
cluded.
The mission of purgatory is to eradicate tlie injurious
hahits by making tlieir gratification impossible. The in-
dividual suffers exactly as he has made others suifer
through his dishonesty, cruelty, intolerance, or what not.
Because of this suffering he learns to act kindly, honestly,
and with forbearance toward others in future. Thus, in
consequence of the existence of this beneficent state, man
learns virtue and right action. When he is reborn he is
free from evil habits, at least every evil act committed is
one of free will. The tendencies to repeat the evil of past
lives remain, for we must learn to do right consciously
and of our own will. Upon occasion these tendencies
tempt us, thereby affording us an opportunity of ranging
ourselves on the side of mercy and virtue as against vice
and cruelty. But to indicate right action and to help us
resist the snares and wiles of temptation, we have the feel-
ing resulting from the expurgation of evil habits and the
expiation of the wrong acts of past lives. If we hoed that
feeling and abstain from the particular evil involved, the
temptation will cease. We have freed ourselves from it
for all time. If we yield we shall experience keener suffer-
ing than before until at last we have learned to live by
the Golden Rule, because the way of the transgressor is
hard. Even then we have not reached the ultimate. To
do good to others because we want them to do good to us
is essentially selfish. In time we must learn to do good
regardless of how we are treated by others ; as Christ said,
we must love even our enemies.
There is an inestimable benefit in knowing about the
method and object of this purgation, because we are thus
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTIO>^ HI
enabled to forestall it by living our purgatory here and
now day by day, thus advancing much faster than would
otherwise be possible. ^ exercise is given in the latter
part of this work, the object of which is purification as
an aid to the development of spiritual sight. It consists
of thinking over the happenings of the day after retiring
at night. We review each incident of the day, in reverse
order, taking particular note of the moral aspect, consid-
ering whether we acted rightly or wrongly in each par-
ticular case regarding actions, mental attitude and habits.
By thus judging ourselves day by day, endeavoring to cor-
rect mistakes and wrong actions, we shall materially
shorten or perhaps even eliminate the necessity for pur-
gatory and be able to pass to the first heaven directly after
death. If in this manner, we consciously overcome our
weaknesses, we also make a very material advance in the
school of evolution. Even if we fail to correct our actions,
we derive an immense benefit from judging ourselves,
thereby generating aspirations toward good, which in time
will surely bear fruit in right action.
In reviewing the day's happenings and blaming our-
selves for wrong, we should not forget to imi^ei^sonally
approve of the good we have done and determine to do
still better. In this way we enhance the good by approval
as much as we abjure the evil by blame.
Kepentance and reform are also powerful factors in
shortening the purgatorial existence, for nature never
wastes effort in useless processes. When we realize the
wrong of certain habits or acts in our past life, and
determine to eradicate the habit and to redress the wrong
committed, we are expunging the pictures of them from
the sub-conscious memory and thoy will not l}e there to
judge us after death. Even though we are nc^t able to
112 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
make restitution for a wrong, the sincerity of our regret
will suliice. Nature does not aim to "get even," or to
take revenge. Eecompense may Ije given to our victim in
other ways.
Much progress ordinarily reserved for future lives will
be made by the man who thus takes time by the forelock,
judging himself and eradicating vice by reforming his
character. This practice is earnestly recommended. It
is perhaps the most important teaching in the present
work.
The Borderland.
Purgatory occupies the three lower Eegions of the De-
sire World. The first heaven is in the three upper Ee-
gions. The central Eegion is a sort of borderland —
neither heaven nor hell. In this Eegion we find people
who are honest and upright; who wronged no one, but
were deeply immersed in business and thought nothing of
the higher life. For them the Desire AVorld is a state of
tlie most indescribable monotony. There is no "business"
in tliat world nor is there, for a man of that kind, any-
thing that will take its place. He has a very hard time
until he learns to think of higher things than ledgers and
drafts. The men who thought of the problem of life and
came to the conclusion that "death ends it all;" who de-
nied the existence of things outside the material-sense
world — these men also feel this dreadful monotony. They
had expected annihilation of consciousness, but instead of
tliat they find themselves with an augmented perception
of persons and things about them. They had iDcen ac-
customed to denying these things so vehemently that they
often fancy the Desire \Yorld an hallucination, and may
frequently be heard exclaiming in the deepest despair,
"When will it end? When will it end?"
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 113
Such people are really in a pitiable state. They are
generally beyond the reach of any help whatever and suf-
fer much longer than almost anyone else. Besides, they
have scarcely any life in the Heaven World, where the
building of bodies for future use is taught, so they put
all their crystallizing thoughts into whatsoever body they
build for a future life, and thus a body is built that has
the hardening tendencies we see, for instance, in consump-
tion. Sometimes the suffering incident to such decrepit
bodies will turn the thoughts of the entities ensouling
them to God^ and their evolution can proceed; but in the
materialistic mind lies the greatest danger of losing touch
with the spirit and. becoming an outcast. Therefore the
Elder Brothers have been ver}' seriously concerned for
the last century regarding the fate of the Western World
and were it not for their special beneficent action in
its behalf, we should have had a social cataclysm com-
pared with which the French Revolution were child's
play. The trained clairvoyant can see how narrowly
hunuinity has escaped disasters of a nature so devaslat-
'ng that continents would have been swept into the sea.
The reader will find a more extended and thorough exposi-
tion of the connection of materialism with volcanic out-
bursts in Chapter XVIIT, where the list of the eruptions of
Vesuvius would seem to corroborate the statement of such
a connection, unless it is credited to "coincidence." as the
sceptic generally does Avhen confronted with facts and
figures he cannot explain.
TiiK FinsT TTkavkx.
When the purgatorial oxistcnoo is over the puriliod
spirit risf's into the iirsl heaven, which is locatc'd in tlio
three highest l{egions of the Desire World, where the re-
114 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
suits of its sufferings are incorporated in tlie seed-atom of
tlie desire body, thus imparting to it the quality of right
feeling, which acts as an impulse to good and a deterrent
from evil in the future. Here the ])an()rama of the past
again unrolls itself backward, but this time it is the good
acts of life that are the basis of feeling. When we come
to scenes where we helj^ed others we realize anew all the
joy of helping which was ours at the time, and in addition
we feel all the gratitude poured out to us by the recipient
of our help. When we come to scenes where we were
helped by others, we again feel all the gratitude that we
then felt toward our benefactor. Thus we see the impor-
tance of appreciating the favors shown us by others, be-
cause gratitude makes for soul-growth. Our happiness in
heaven depends upon the joy we gave others, and the
valuation we placed upon what others did for us.
It should be ever borne in mind that the power of giv-
ing is not vested chiefly in the monied man. Indiscrimi-
nate giving of money may even be an evil. It is well to
give money for a purpose we are convinced is good, but
service is a thousandfold l^etter. As AYhitman says.
Behold! I do not give lectures, or a little charity;
When I give, I give myself.
A kind look, expressions of confidence, a sympathetic and
loving helpfulness — these can be given by all regard-
less of wealth. Moreover^ we should particularly endeavor
to help the needy one to help himself, whether physically,
financially, morally, or mentally, and not cause him to be-
come dependent upon us or others.
The ethics of giving, with the effect on the giver as a
spiritual lesson, are most beautifully shown in Lowell's
*'The Vision of Sir Launfal." The young and ambitious
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 115
knig^ht, Sir Launfal, clad in pliining armor and astride a
splendid charger, is setting out from his castle to seek
The Holy Grail. On his shield gleams the cross, the sym-
bol of the l)enignity and tenderness of Our Savior, the
meek and lowly One, but the knight's heart is filled with
pride and haughty disdain for the poor and needy. He
meets a leper asking alms and with a contemptuous frown
throws him a coin, as one might cast a bone to a hungry
cur, but
The leper raised not the gold from the dust,
"Better to me the poor man's crust,
Better the blessing of the poor,
Though I turn empty from his door.
That is no true alms which the hand can hold;
He gives only the worthless gold
Who gives from a sense of duty ;
But he who gives from a slender mite,
And gives to that which is out of sight —
That thread of all-sustaining Beauty
Which runs through all and doth all unite. —
The hand cannot clasp the whole of his alms,
The heart outstretches its eager palms,
For a god goes with it and makes it store
To the soul that was starving in darkness before.
On his return Sir Launfal finds another in possession
of his castle, and is driven from the gate.
An old bent man, worn out and frail,
He came back from seeking the Holy Grail;
Little he recked of his earldom's loss,
No more on his surcoat was blazoned the cross,
But deep in his heart the sign he wore.
The badge of tlie suffering and tlie poor.
Again he meets the leper, who again asks alms. This
time the knight responds diflferently.
And Sir Launfal said: "I behold in thee
An image of Him Who died on the tree;
Thou also hast had thy crown of thorns.
Thou also hast had the world 's buffets and scorns,
116 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
And to thy life were not denied
The wounds in the hands and feet and side;
Mild Mary 's Son, acknowlcilge nie ;
Behold, through him 1 give to Thee!"
A look in the leper's eye brings remembrance and recog-
nition, and
The heart within him was ashes and dust ;
He parted in twain his single crust,
He broke the ice on the streamlet 's brink,
And gave the leper to eat and drink.
A transformation takes jilace:
The leper no longer crouched by his side,
But stood before him glorified.
And the Voice that was softer than silence said,
"Lo, it is I, be not afraid!
In many lands, without avaU,
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail;
Behold, it is here! — This cup which thou
Did'st fill at the streandet for me but now;
This crust is my body broken for thee.
This water the blood I shed on the tree;
The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share Mith another's need;
Kot what we give, but what we share —
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with liis alms feeds three —
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me."
The first heaven is a place of joy without a single drop
of bitterness. The spirit is beyond the influence of the
material, earthly conditions, and assimilates all the good
contained in the past life as it lives it over again. Here
all ennobling pursuits to which the man aspired are realized
in fullest measure. It is a place of rest, and the harder
has been the life, the more keenly will the rest be enjoyed.
Sickness, sorrow, and pain are unknown quantities. This
is the Summerland of the Spirtualists. There the thoughts
of the devout Christian have built the New Jerusalem.
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 117
Beautiful houses, fiowei's, etc., ai'e the i)ortion of those
who aspired to theru ; they build them themselves by
thought from the subtle desire stuff. Nevertheless these
things are just as real and tangible to them as our ma-
terial houses are to us. All gain here the satisfaction
which earth life lacked for them.
There is one class there who lead a particularly beau-
tiful life — the children. If we could but see them we
would quickly cease our grief. When a child dies before
the birth of the desire body, which takes place about the
fourteenth year, it does not go any higher than the first
heaven, because it is not responsible for its actions, any
more than the unborn child is responsible for the pain
it causes the mother by turning and twisting in her
womb. Therefore the child has no purgatorial existence.
That which is not quickened cannot die, hence the desire
body of a child, together with the mind, will persist
until a new birth, and for that reason such children are
very apt to remember their previous life as instanced in
the case cited elsewhere.
For such children the first heaven is a waiting-place
where they dwell from one to twenty years, until an op-
portunity for a new birth is offered. Yet it is more than
simply a waiting-i)hK'e. because there is much jjrogress
made during this interim.
When a child dies there is always some relative await-
ing it, or, failing that, there are people who loved to
"mother" children in earth life who find delight in tak-
ing care of a little waif. The exlrome i)lasticily of the de-
sire stuff makes it easy to form the most exquisite living
toys for the children, and theii- life is one beautiful play;
nevertheless their instruction is not neglected. They are
formed into classes accoi'diiiir to tlicir Icmpcfainonts, but
118 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
quite regardless of age. In tlie Desire World it is easy
to give object-lessons in the influence of good and evil
passions on conduct and happiness. These lessons are
indelibl}' imprinted upon the child's sensitive and emo-
tional desire body, and remain with it after rebirth, so
that many a one living a noble life owes much of it to the
fact that he was given this training. Often when a weak
spirit is born^ the Compassionate Ones (the invisible Lead-
ers who guide our evolution) cause it to die in early life
that it may have this extra training to fit it for what may
be perhaps a hard life. This seems to be the case particu-
larly where the etching on the desire body was weak in
consequence of a dying person having been disturbed by
the lamentations of his relatives, or because he met death
by accident or on the battle-field. He did not under those
circumstances experience the appropriate intensity of feel-
ing in his post mortem existence, therefore, when he is
born and dies in early life, the loss is made up as above.
Often the duty of caring for such a child in the heaven life
falls to those who were the cause of the anomaly. They
are thus afforded a chance to make up for the fault and to
learn better. Or perhaps they become the parents of the
one they harmed and care for it during the few years it
lives. It does not matter then if they do lament hysteric-
ally over its death, because there Avould be no pictures of
any consequence in a child's vital body.
This heaven is also a place of progression for all who
have been studious, artistic, or altruistic. The student
and the philosopher have instant access to all the libraries
(»r the world. The painter has endless delight in the ever-
changing color coml)inations. He soon learns that his
thought blends and shapes these colors at will. His crea-
tions glow and scintillate with a life impossible of attain-
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EA'OLUTION 119
ment to one who works with the dull pigments of Earth.
He is, as it were, painting with living, glowing materials
and able to execute his designs with a facility which fills
his soul with delight. The musician has not yet reached
the place whore his art will express itself to the fullest
extent. The Physical World is the world of Form. The
Desire World, where we find purgatory and the first
heaven, is particularly the world of Color; but the World
of Thought, where the second and third heavens are located,
is the sphere of Tone. Celestial music is a fact and not a
mere figure of speech. Pythagoras was not romancing
when he spoke of the music of the spheres, for each one of
the heavenly orbs has its definite tone and together thev
sound the celestial symphony which Goethe also mentions
in the prolog to his "Faust," where the scene is laid in
heaven. The Archangel Eaphael says,
The Sun intones his ancient song
'Mi<l rival t-liant of hrothor sj>liores.
His proscribed course he speeds along
In thund'rous way throughout the years.
Echoes of that heavenly music reach us even here in
the Physical AVorld. They are our most precious posses-
sion, even tliough they are as elusive as a will-o'-the-wisp,
and cannot be permanently created, as can other works
of art — a statue, a painting, or a l)ook. In the Physical
World tone dies and vanishes the moment after it is born.
In the first heaven these echoes are, of course, much more
beautiful and have more permanency, hence there the musi-
cian hears sweeter strains than ever he did during earth
life.
The experiences of the poet are akin to those of the
musician, for poetry is the soul's expression of its inner-
most feelincrs in words which are ordered accordinc: to the
120 KUSlCliUCiAX COS-MO■CO^X•EPTION
same laws of harmony and rhythm that govern the out-
poiiring of the spirit in music. In addition, the poet
finds a wonderful inspiration in the pictures and cok)rs
which are the chief cliaractcristics of the Desire World.
Thence he will draw the niaterial for use in his next in-
carnation. In like manner does the author accuiiuilate
matei'ial and faculty. The phihmthropist works out liis
altruistic plans for the upliftment of man. If lie failed in
one life, he will see the reason for it in the first heaven
and will there learn how to overcome the obstacles and
avoid the errors that made his plan impracticable.
In time a point is reached where the result of the pain
and suffering incident to purgation, together with the joy
extracted from the good actions of the past life, have been
built into the seed-atom of the desire bod3% Together
these constitute what we call conscience, that impelling
force which warns us against evil as productive of pain
and inclines ns toward good as productive of happiness and
joy. Then man leaves his desire body to disintegrate, as
he left his dense body and vital body. He takes with him
the forces only of the seed-atom, wliich are to form the
nucleus of future desire bodies, as it was the persistent
particle of his past vehicles of feeling.
As stated above, the forces of the seed-atom are with-
drawn. To the materialist force and matter are insepara-
ble. The occultist knows differently. To him they are
not two entirely distinct and separate concepts, but the
two poles of the one spirit.
Matter is crystallized spirit.
Force is the same spirit not yet cr^'stallized.
This has l)een said before,- hut it cannot he too strongly
impressed upon the mind. In this connection the illustra-
tion of the snail is very helpful. Matter, which is crys-
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 1>J
tallizcd spirit, corresponds to the snail's house, which is
crystallized snail. The chemical force which moves mat-
ter, making it available for the building of form, and
the snail which moves its house are also good correspond-
ences. That which is now the snail will in time become
the house, and that whioli is now force will in time Ijecorae
matter when it has crystallized further. The reverse process
of resolving matter back into spirit is also going on con-
tinually. The coarser pi ase of this process we see as decay
when a man is leaving his vehicles behind and at tbat time
the spirit of an atom is easily detachable from the coarser
spirit which has Ix-en manifesting as matter.
The Second He.vven.
At last the man, the Ego, the threefold spirit, enters the
second heaven. He is clad in the sheath of mind, which
contains the three seed-atoms — the quintessence of the
three discarded vehicles.
When the man dies and loses his dense and vital bodies
there is the same condition as when one falls asleep. The
desire body, as has been explained, had no organs ready
for use. It is now transformed from an ovoid to a figure
resembling the dense body which has been abandoned.
We can easily understand that there must be an interval
of unconsciousness resembling sleep and then the man
awakes in the Desire World. It not un frequently happens,
however, that such people are, for a long time, unaware
of what has happened to them. They do not realize that
they have died. They know that they are able to move
and think. It is sometimes even a very hard mntt«'r to
get them to believe that they are really "dead." Tiiey
realize that souu'thing is different, but they are not able
to undei'stand what it is.
122 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
Not so, however, when the change is made from the first
heaven, which is in the Desire Workl, to the second heaven,
which is in the Kegion of Concrete Thought. Then the
man leaves his desire body. He is perfectly conscious. He
}3asses into a great stillness. For the time being every-
thing seems to fade away. He cannot think. No faculty is
alive, yet he knows tliat he is. He has a feeling of stand-
ing in "The Great Forever;" of standing utterly alone, yet
unafraid; and his soul is filled with a wonderful peace,
"which passeth all understanding."
In occult science this is called ''The Great Silence"
Then comes the awakening. The spirit is now in its
home-World — heaven. Here the first awakening brings to
the spirit the sound of "the music of the spheres." In
our Earth life we are so immersed in the little noises and
sounds of our limited environment that we are incapable
of hearing the music of the marching orbs, but the occult
scientist hears it. He knows that the twelve signs of the
Zodiac and the seven planets form the sounding-board and
strings of "Apollo's seven-stringed lyre." He knows that
were a single discord to mar the celestial harmony from
that grand Instrument there would be "a wreck of matter
and a crash of worlds."
The power of rhythmic vibration is well-known to all
who have given the subject even the least study. For
instance, soldiers are commanded to break step when cross-
ing a bridge, otherwise their rhythmic tramp would shatter
the strongest structure. The Bible story of the sounding
of the ram's horn while marcliing around the walls of the
city of Jericho is not nonsensical in tlie eyes of the occult-
ist. In some cases similar things have happened without
the world smiling in supercilious incredulity. A few years
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 103
ago, a band of musicians were practicing in a garden
close to the very solid wall of an old castle. There oc-
curred at a certain place in the music a prolonged and very
piercing tone. When this* note was sounded the wall of
the castle suddenly fell. The musicians had struck the key-
note of the wall and it was sufficiently prolonged to
shatter it.
When it is said that this is the M'orld of tone, it mu^^t
not be thought that there are no colors. Many people
know that there is an intimate connection between color
and tone; that when a certain note is struck, a certaiii color
ap])ears simultaneously. So it is also in the Heaven World.
Color and sound are both present; hut the tone is the
originator of the color. Hence it is said, that this is par-
ticularly the world of tone, and it is this tone that builds
all forms in the Physical World. The musician can lioar
certain tones in different ])arts of nature, such as the wind
in the forest, the breaking of the surf on the beach, the
roar of the ocean and the sounding of many waters. These
combined tones make a whole which is the key-note of the
p]arth — its "tone." As geometrical figures are created by
drawing a violin Ijow over the edge of a glass plate, so the
forms we see around us are the crystallized sound-figures
of the archetypal forces which play into the archctyjies in
the Heaven World.
The work done hy man in the Heaven World is mnny-
sided. It is not in the least an inactive, dreamy nor
illusory existence. It is a time of the greatest and m^st
important activity in prejiaring for the next life, as sleeji is
an active prej)aration for the work of the fdlldwing day.
Here the quintessence of the three bodies is built into
the threefold sjiirit. As much of the desire body as the
man had worked upon during life, by purifying his desires
12-i EOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
and oniotions. ^vill be ■welded into the luiman spirit, tluis
giving an improved mind in the future.
As nuich of the vital body as the life spirit had worked
upon, transformed, spiritualized, and thus saved from tlie
decay to which the rest of the vital body is subject, will
be amalgamated with the life spirit to insure a better vital
body and temperament in the succeeding lives.
As much of the dense body as the divine spirit has
saved by right action will be worked into it and will bring
better environment and opportunities.
This spiritualization of the vehicle is accomplished by
cultivation of the faculties of observation, discrimination
and memory, devotion to high ideals, prayer, concentra-
tion, persistence and right use of the life forces.
The second heaven is the real home of man — the Ego,
the Thinker. Here he dwells for centuries, assimilating the
fruit of the last earth life and preparing the earthly con-
ditions Avhich will be best suited for his next step in prog-
ress. The sound or tone which pervades this Region, and is
everywhere apparent as color, is his instrument, so to speak.
It is this harmonious sound vibration which, as an elixir
of life, builds into the threefold spirit the quintessence of
the threefold body, upon wdiich it dej^ends for growth
The life in the second heaven is an exceedingly active
one, varied in many different ways. The Ego assimilates
the fruits of the last earth life and prepares the environ-
ment for a new physical existence. It is not enough to
say that the new conditions will be determined by con-
duct and action in the life just closed. It is required that
the fruits of the past be worked into the World which is
to be the next scene of activity while the Ego is gaining
fresh physical experiences and gathering further f^'"*
Therefore all the denizens of the Heaven World n-ork upon
MAN AND THE METHOD OP EVOLUTION 125
he models of the Earth, all of which are in the Kegion
of Concrete Thought. They alter the physical features of
the Earth, and l>ring about the gradual changes which vary
its appearance, so that on each return to physical life a
(lifTcrent environment has been prepared, wherein new
experiences may be gained. Climate, flora, and fauna are
altered by man under the direction of higher Beings, to
\)e described later. Thus the world is Just what we our-
selves, individually and collectively, have made it : and it
will be what we make it. The occult scientist sees in every-
thing that happens a cause of a spiritual nature manifest-
ing itself, not omitting the prevalence and alarrainglv in-
creasing frequency of seismic disturbances, which it traces
to the materialistic thought of modern science.
It is true that purely physical causes can bring about
such disturljancos, but is that the last wcud on the subject?
Can we always get the full explanation by merely record-
ing what appears on the surface? Surely not I We see
two men conversing on the street and one suddenly strikes
the other, knocking him down. One observer may say
that an angry thought knocked tlie man down. Another
may scoff at this answer and declare that he saw the arm
lifted, the muscles contract, the arm shooting out and com-
ing in contact with the victim, who was knocked down.
That is also true, but it is safe to say that had there not
first been the angry thought, the blow would not hav(> been
struck. In like manner the occultist says that if material-
ism had not been, seismic disturbances would not have
occurred.
Man's work in the Heaven World is not confined solely
to the alteration of the surface of the Earth which is to
l)e the scene of his future struggles in the subjugation of
the Physical World. He is also actively engaged in 'earn-
126 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
ing how to build a body wliich sliall afTord a better means of
expression. It is man's destiny to become a Creative In-
telligence and he is serving his apprenticeship all the time.
During his heaven life he is learning to build all kinds of
bodies — the human included.
We have spoken of the forces which work along the
positive and negative poles of the different ethers. Man
himself is part of that force. Those whom we call dead
are the ones who help us to live. They in turn are helped
by the so-called ''nature spirits," which they command.
Man is directed in this work by Teachers from the higher
creative Hierarchies, which helped him to build his vehicles
before he attained self-consciousness, in the same way he
himself now builds his bodies in sleep. During heaven
life they teach him consciously. The painter is taught to
build an accurate eye, capable of taking in a perfect per-
spective and of distinguishing colors and shades to a
degree inconceivable among those not interested in color
and light.
The mathematician has to deal with space, and the
faculty for space perception is connected with the delicate
adjustment of the three semi-circular canals which are
situated inside the ear, each pointing in one of the three
dimensions in space. Logical thought and mathematical
ability are in projiortion to the accuracy of the adjustment
of these semi-circular canals. ]\Iusical ability is also de-
pendent upon the same factor, but in addition to the neces-
sity for the proper adjustment of the semi-circular canals,
the musician requires extreme delicacy of the "fibres of
Corti," of which there are about three thousand in (he
human ear, each capable of interpreting about twenty-five
gradations of tone. In the ears of the majority of people
thev do not respond to more than from three to ten of
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION loj
the posbible gradations. Among ordinary musical people
the greatest degree of efficiency is about fifteen sounds to
each fibre ; but the master musician, who is able to inter-
pret and bring down music from the Heaven "World, re-
quires a greater range to be able to distinguish the differ-
ent notes and detect the slightest discord in the m.ost com-
plicated chords. Persons who require organs of such ex-
ceeding delicacy for the expression of their faculties are
.specially taken care of, as the higher state of thrlr devel-
opment merits and demands. Xone other ranks so high
as the musician, which is reasonable when we consider
that while the painter draws his inspiration chiefly from
the world of color — the nearer Desire World — the musician
attempts to bring to us the atmosphere of our heavenly
home world (where, as spirits, we are citizens), and to
translate them into the sounds of earth life. His is the
highest mission, because as a mode of expression for soul
life, music reigns supreme. That music is different from
and higher than all the other arts can be understood wlu-n
we reflect that a statue or a painting, when once created,
is permanent. They are drawn from the Desire World
and are therefore more easily crystallized, while music,
being of the Heaven World, is more elusive and must be
re-created each time we hear it, Tt cannot be imprisoned,
as shown by the unsuccessful attempts to do so partially
by means of such uit'cliaiiical dcvicos as ])lionographs and
piano-players. I'he music so reproduced loses much of the
soul-stirring sweetness it possesses when it comes fresh
from its own world, carrying to the soul memories of its
home and speaking to it in a language that no beauty
expressed in marble or upon canvas can equal.
The instrument through which man senses music is the
most perfect sense organ in the human body. The cyo is
128 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
not b} any moans true, but the ear is, in the sense that it
hears every sound without distortion, while the eye often
distorts what it sees.
Jn addition to the musical ear, the musician must also
learn to build a long, fine hand with slender tinfjers and
sensitive nerves, otherwise he woul 1 not be able to repro-
duce the melodies he hears.
It is a law of nature that no one can inhabit a more
efficient body than he is capable of building. He first
learns to build a certain grade of body and afterwards he
learns to live in it. In that way he discovers its defects
and is taught how to remedy them.
All men work unconsciously at the building of their
bodies during ante-natal life until they have reached the
point where the quintessence of former bodies — which they
have saved — is to be built in. Then they work consciously.
It will therefore be seen that the more a man advances and
the more he works on his vehicles, thus making them im-
mortal, the more power he has to build for a new life. The
advanced pu])il of an occult school sometimes commences
to build for himself as soon as the work during the first
three weeks (which belongs exclusively to the mother) has
been completed. \Ylien the period of unconscious building
lias passed the man has a chance to exercise his nascent
creative power, and the true original creative process —
"Epigenesis" — begins.
Thus we see that man learns to build his vehicles iii the
Heaven World, and to tise them in the Physical World.
Nature provides all phases of experience in such a mar-
velous manner and with such consummate wisdom that
as we learn to see deeper and deeper into her secrets we
are more and more impressed with our own insignificance
and with an ever-growing reverence for God, whose visi-
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 129
ble symbol nature is. The more we learn of her wonders,
the more we r<ialize that this world system is not the vast
perpetual motion machine unthinking people would have
us I>elieve. It would be quite as logical to think that if
we toss a box of loose type into the air the characters will
have arranged themselves into the words of a beautiful
poem by the time they reach the ground. The greater the
comple.xity of the plan the greater the argumental weight
in favor of the theory of an intelligent Divine Author.
The Third Heaven.
Having assimilated all the fruits of his last life and
altered the appearance of the Earth in such a manner as to
all'ord h4m the necessaiy environment for his next step
towards perfection ; having also learned by work on the
bodies of others, to build a suitable l)ndy through which to
express himself in the Physical World and having at last
resolved the mind into the essence which builds the three-
fold spirit, the naked individual spirit ascends into the
higher Kegion of the World of Thought — the third heaven.
Here, by the ineffable harmony of this higher world, it is
strengthened for its next dip into matter.
After a time comes the desire for new experience and
the contemplation of a new birth. This conjures up a
series of pictures ])pfore the vision of the spirit — a pano-
rama of the new life in store for it. But, mark this well —
this panorama contains only the principal events. The
spirit has free will as to detail. It is as if a man going to a
distant city had a time-limit ticket, with initial choice of
route. After he has chosen and lx?gun his journey it is not
sure that he can change to another route during the trip.
He may stop over in as many places as he wishes, within
his time limit, but he cannot go back. Thus as he proceeds
130 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
on his joui'iicy, he becomes more and more limited by his
past choice. If he has chosen a steam road, using soft
coal, he must expect to be soiled and dusty. Had he
chosen a road burning anthracite oi- using electricity he
Mould have been cleaner. So it is with the man in a new
life. He may have to live a hard life, but he is free to
choose whether he will live it cleanly or wallow in the
mire. Other conditions are also Avithin his control, sub-
ject to the limits of his past choices and acts.
The pictures in the panorama of the' coming life, of
which we have just spoken, begin at the cradle and end
at the grave. This is the opposite direction to that in
which they travel in the after-death panorama, already
explained, which passes before the vision of the spirit
immediately following its release from the dense body.
The reason for this radical difference in the two pano-
ramas is that in the before-birth panorama the object is
to show the returning Ego how certain causes or acts
always produce certain effects. In the case of the after-
death panorama the object is the reverse, i.e., to show how
each event m the past life was theej^^'ec^of some causeiwr-
thoi- back in the life. Nature, or God, does nothing with-
out a logical reason, and the further we search the niore
apparent it becomes to us that Nature is a wise mother,
always using the best means to accomplish her ends.
But it may be asked. Why should we be reborn? Why
must we return to this limited and miserable earth exist-
ence? Why can we not get experience in those higher
realms without coming to Earth"? We are tired of this
dreary, weary earth life !
Such queries are based upon mi.sunderstandings of sev-
eral kinds. In the fir.st place, let us realize and engrave it
deep upon the tablets of our memoiy that the purpose of
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 131
life is not happiness, hut experience. Sorrow and pain
are our most benevolent teachers, while the joys of life
are but fleeting.
This seems a stern doctrine and Ihe heart cries out pas-
sionately at even the thouj^ht that it may possibly be
true. Nevertheless, it is true, and upon examination it
will be found not such a stern doctrine after all.
Consider the blessings of pain. If we could place our
hand upon a hot stove and feel no pain, the hand might
be allowed to remain until it and perhaps the arm were
burned away, without our knowing anything about it
until too late to save them. It is the pain resulting from
the contact with the hot stove which makes us snatch our
hand away before serious damage is done. Instead of
losing the hand, we escape with a blister which quickly
heals. This is an illustration from the Physical World.
We find that the same principle applies in the Moral and
Mental Worlds. If we outrage morality the pangs of
conscience bring us pain that will prevent us from re-
peating the act and if we do not heed the fii-st lesson,
nature will give us hai-dcr and harder experiences until
at last the fact is forced into our consciousness that "the
way of the transgres,soi' is hard." This will continue
until at last we are forced to turn in a new direction and
take a stej) onward toward a better life.
Experience is "knowledge of the effects which follow
acts." This is the object of life, together with the devel-
opment of "Will," which is the force whereby we api>ly
the results of experience. Experience must be gained,
but we have the choice whether we gain it by the hard
])ath of personal experience or by observation of other
people's acts, reasoning aii<l i-etlecting thei-eon. guided
by the light of whatever experience we have already had.
132 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
This is the method by which the occult student should
learn, instead of requiring the lash of adversity and pain.
The more willing we are to learn in that way, the less we
shall feel the stinging thorns of "the path of pain" and
the more quickly shall we gain "the path of peace."
The choice is ours, but so long as we have not learned
all there is to learn in this world, we must come back to it.
We cannot stay in the higher worlds and learn there until
we have mastered the lessons of earth life. That would
be as sensible as to send a child to kindergarten one day
and to college the next. The child must return to the kin-
dergarten day after day and spend years in the grammar
school and the high school before its study has developed
its capacity sufficiently to enable it to understand the les-
sons taught in college.
Man is also in school— the school of experience. He
must return many times before he can hope to master
all the knowledge in the world of sense. No one earth
life, however rich in experience, could furnish the knowl-
edge, io nature decrees that he must return to Earth, after
intervals of rest, to take up his work where he dropped it,
exactly as a child takes up its work in school each day,
after the intervening sleep of night. It is no argument
against this theory to say that man does not remember liis
former lives. We cannot recall all the events of our pres-
ent lives. We do not recollect our labors in learning to
write, yet we have acquired a knowledge of the art of writ-
ing, which proves that we did loarn. All the faculties we
possess are a proof that we acquired them sometime, some-
where. Some people do remember their past, however, as
a remarkable instance related at the end of the next chap-
ter will show, and it is but one among many.
Again, if there were no return to Earth, what is the
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 133
use of living? Why strive foi- aiiythinj;? Why shoukl a
life of happiness in an eternal heaven be the I'eward for a
good life ? What benefit could come from a good life in a
heaven where everybody is already happy? Surely in a
place where everybody is happy and contented there is
no need for sympathy, self-sacrifice or wise counsel ! No
one would need them there ; but on Earth there are many
who need those very things and such humanitarian and
altruistic qualities are of the greatest service to sti'ug-
gling humanity. Therefore the Great Law. which works
for Good, brings^man back to work again in the world
for the benefit' of himself and othei-s. with his acquired
treasures, instead of letting them go to waste in a heaven
where no one needs them.
Preparations for Rebirth.
Having thus seen the necessity for repeated embodi-
ments, we will next consider the method by which this
purpose is accomplished.
Pre\aous to taking the dip into matter, the threefold
spirit is naked, having only the forces of the four seed-
atoms (which are the nuclei of the threefold body and
the sheath of mind). Its descent resembles the putting
on of several pairs of gloves of increasing thickness, as
previously illustrated. The foi-ces of the mind of the last
life are awakened from their latency in the see<l-atom.
This begins to attract to itself materials from the high-
est subdivision of the Kegion of ( "oiicrete Thought, in a
manner similar to that in which a magnet di'aws to itself
iron filings.
If we hold a magnet over a miscellaneous heap of filings
of brass, silver, gold, iron, lead and other metals, we shall
find that it selects only iron filings and that even (»f them
134 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
it will take no more than its strength enables it to lift.
Its attractive power is of a certain kind and is limited to
H certain quantity of that kind. The same is true of the
seed-atom. It can take, in each Region, nothing except
the material for which it has an affinity and nothing be-
yond a certain definite quantity even of that. Thus the
vehicle built around this nucleus becomes an exact coun-
terpart of the corresponding vehicle of the last life minus
the evil whi(;h has been expurgated and plus the quintes-
sence of good which has been incorporated in the seed-atom.
The material selected by the threefold, spirit forms itself
into a great bell-shaped figure, open at the bottom and
wdth the seed-atom at the top. If we conceive of this il-
lustration si)iritually we may compare it to a diving-bell
descending into a sea composed of fluids of increasing
density. These correspond to the different subdivisions of
each World. The matter taken into the texture of the bell-
shaped body makes it heavier, so that it sinks into the next
lower subdivision and it takes from that its proper quota
of matter. Thus it becomes still heavier and sinks yet
deeper until it has passed through the four subdivisions
of the Region of Concrete Thought and the sheath of the
new mind of the man is complete. Next the forces in the
seed-atom of the desire body are awakened. It places it-
self at the top of the bell, inside, and the materials of the
seventh Region of the Desire World draw around it until
it sinks to the sixth Region, getting more material there,
and this process continues until the first Region of the
Desire World is reached. The bell has now two layers —
the sheath of mind outside and the new desire body inside.
The seed-atom of the vital body is next aroused into
activity, but here the process of formation is not so simple
as in the case of the mind and the desire bodv, for it must
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 135
be remembered thatthose vehicles were eomi)aratively un-
organized, while the vital body and the dense body are
more orf^anized and very complicated. The material, of a
given quantity and quality, is attracted in the same man-
ner and under the operation of the same law as in the case
of the higher bodies, but the building of the new body
and the placement in the proper environment is done by
four great Beings of immeasurable wisdom, which are the
Recording Angels, the" Lords of Destiny.'' They impress
the reflecting ether of the vital body in such a way that
the pictures of the coming life are reflected in it. It (the
vital body) is built by the inhabitant of the Heaven AVorld
and the elemental spirits in such a manner as to form a
particular type of brain. But mark this, the returnimg
Ego itself incorporates therein the quintessence of its
former vital bodies and in addition to this also docs a
little original work. This is done that in the coming life
there may be some room for original and individual ex-
pression, not predetermined by past action.
It is very important to remember this fact. There is too
great a tendency to think that all which now exists is the
result of something that i)reviously existed, but if that
were the case there would be no margin left for new and
original effort and for new causes. The chain of cause and
effect is not a Hionotonous repetition. There is an i'vjhix of
new and original causes all the tvme. That is the nwX
backbone of evolution — the only thing lliat gives it mean-
ing and makes it otliei- than an unrolling of latent actual-
ities. This is "Epigenesis" — the free-will thai consists
of the fiTcdom to inaugurate something cnlii-cly new. not
merely a choice between two courses of action. This is the
important factor which alone can explain the system to
wliich we belong in satisfactory mannei". Involution and
136 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Evolution in themselves are insufficient; but coupled
with Epifjenisis we have a full triad of explanation.
The fate of an individual generated under the law of
Consequence, is of great complexity and involves associa-
tion with Egos in and out of physical existence, at all
times. Even those living at one time may not be living in
the same locality, so that it is impossible for one individ-
ual's destiny to be all worked out in one lifetime or in one
place. The Ego is therefore brought into a certain envi-
ronment and family with which it is in some way related.
As regards the fate to be worked out, it is sometimes im-
material into which one of several environments the Ego
is reborn, and when such is the case, it is allowed its choice
as far as possible, but once an Ego is so placed the agents
of the Lords of Destiny watch unseen, that no act of free-
will shall frustrate the working out of the portion of fate
selected. If we do aught of such a nature as to circumvent
that i)art, they will make another move, so as to enforce
fulfillment of the destiny. It cannot be too often reiter-
ated, however, that this does not render man helpless. It
is merely the same law that governs after we have fired a
pistol. We are then unable to stop the bullet, or even to
deflect it from its course in any way. Its direction was
determined by the position in which the pistol was held
when we fired. That could have been changed at any
time before the trigger was pulled, as up to that time we
had full control. The same is true regarding new actions
which make future destiny. We may, up to a certain point,
modify or even altogethei" counteract certain causes al-
i-eady set in motion, but once started, and no furthei' ac-
tion taken, they will getj beyond our eonti'ol. This is called
*'ripe" fate and it is this kind that is meant when it is
said that the Lords of Destiny check every attempt to
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 137
shirk it. With regard to our past we are to a great extent
helpless, but in regard to future action we have full con-
trol, except insofar as we are hampered by our past actions.
By and by, however, as we learn that we are the cau^e of
our own sorrow or joy, we shall awake to the necessity of
ordering our lives more in harmony with the laws of God
and thus rise above these laws of the Physical World.
That is the key to emancipation ; as Goethe says :
From every power that all the world enchains
Man frees himself when self-control he gains.
The vital body, having been molded by the Lords of
De^!tiny, will give form to the dense body, organ for organ.
This matrix or mold is then placed in the womb of the
future mother. The seed-atom for the dense body is in
the triangular head of one of the spermatozoa in the semen
of the father. This alone makes fertilization possible and
here is the explanation of the fact that so many times
sex-unions are unfruitful. The chemical constituents of
the seminal fluid and the ovi are the same at all times and
were thes? the only requirements, the explanation of the
phenomena of unfertility, if sought in the material, visible
world alone, would not ])e found. It becomes plain, how-
ever, when we understand that as the molecules of water
freeze only along the lines of force in the water and
manifest as ice crystals instead of freezing into a homogon-
eous mass, as would l)e the case if there were no lines of
force previous to coagulation, so there can l)e no dense body
built until there is a vital body in which to build the
material ; also there must be a seed-atom tor the dense
body, to act as gauge of the quality and quantity of the
matter which is to be built into that dense body. Although
at the present stage of development there is never full har-
138 ROSICRUCIAX COSMO-CONCEPTIOISr
inony in tlie materials of tlie body, because tliat would mean
a perfect body, yet the discord must not be so great as to
be disruptive of the organism.
Thus while heredity in the first place is true only as
regards the material of tlic dense body and not the soul
qualities, wliicli arc entirely individual, the incoming Ego
also does a certain amount of work on its dense body, in-
corporating in it the quintessence of its past physical quali-
ties. No body is an exact mixture of the qualities of its
parents, although the Ego is restricted to the use of the
materials taken from the bodies of tlie father and mother.
Hence a musician incarnates where he can get the material
to build the slender hand and the delicate ear, with its
sensitive fibres of Corti and its accurate adjustment of the
three semicircular canals. The arrangement of these mate-
rials, however^ is, to the extent named, under the control
of the Ego. It is as though a carpenter were given a pile
of boards to use in building a house in which to live, but
is left to his own judgment as to the kind of house he
wishes to build.
Except in the case of a very highly developed being,
this work of the Ego is almost negligible at the present
stage of man's evolution. The greatest scope is given in
the building of the desire body, very little in that of the
vital body and almost none in the dense body; yet even
this little is sufficient to make each individual an expres-
sion of his own spirit and different from the parents.
When the impregnation of the ovum has taken place,
the desire body of the mother works upon it for a period
of from eighteen to twenty-one days, the Ego remaining
outside in its desire body and mind sheath, yet always in
close touch with the mother. Upon the expiration of that
time the Ego enters the mother's body. The bell-shaped
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 139
vehicles di-aw themselves down over the head of the vital
body and the bell doses at the bottom. From this time
the Ego broods over its coming instrument until the birth,
of the child and the new earth life of the returning Ego
commences.
Birth of the Dense Body
The vehicles of the new-born do not at once become
active. The dense body is helpless for a long time after
birth. Reasoning from analogy we can readily see that
the same must be the case with the higher vehicles. The
occult scientist sees it. but even without clairvoyance
reason will show that this must be so. As the dense body
is slowly prepared for the sepai'ate. individual life within
the protecting cover of the womb, so the other bodies are
gradually born and nurtured into activity, and while the
times given in the following description are but approxi-
mate, they are nevertheless accurate enough for general
purposes and show the connection between the Microcosm
and the ^lacrocosm — the individual and the woi-ld.
In the period immediately following birth the different
vehicles inter-penetrate one another, as. in our previous
illusti-ation. the sand penetrates the sponge and the water
both sand and sponge. But, though they are all present, as
in adult life, they are merely present. None of their posi-
tive faculties are active. The vital body cannot use the
forces which operate along the positive pole of the ethers.
Assimilation, which works along the positive pole of the
chenucal ether, is very dainty during childhood and what
there is of it is due to the maci-ocosmic vital body, the
ethers which act as a womb for the child's vital body until
the seventh year, gradually ripening it during that period.
The propagative faculty, which works along the positive
140 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
pole of the life ether, is also latent. The heating of the
body — which is carried on along the positive pole of the
light ether — and the circulation of the blood are due to
the niacrocosniic vital body, the ethers acting on the child
and slowly developing it to the point where it can control
these functions itself. The forces working along the nega-
tive pole of the ethers are so much the more active. The
excretion of solids, carried on along the negative pole of
the chemical ether (corresponding to the solid subdivision
of the Chemical Region), is too unrestrained, as is also the
excretion of fluid, which is carried on along the negative
pole of the life ether (corresponding to the second or fluid
subdivision of the Chemical Eegion). The passive sense-
perception, which is due to the negative forces of the light
ether, is also exceedingly prominent. The child is very
impressionable and it is "all eyes and ears."
During the earlier years the forces operating along the
negative pole of the reflecting ether are also extremely
active. In those years children can "see" the higher
Worlds and they often prattle about what they see until
the ridicule of their elders or punishment for "telling sto-
ries" teaches them to desist.
It is deplorable that the little ones are forced to lie —
or at least to deny the truth — because of the incredulity of
their "wise" elders. Even the investigations of the Society
for Psychical Research have proven that children often
have invisible playmates, who frequently visit them until
they are several years old. During those years the clair-
voyance of the children is of the same negative character
as that of the mediums.
It is the same with the forces working in the de-^ire
body. The passive feeling of physical pain is present, while
the feeling of emotion is almost entirely absent- The child
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 141
will, of course, show emotion on the slightest provocation,
but the duration of that emotion is but momentary. It
is all on the surface.
The child also has the link of mind, but is almost incapa-
ble of individual thought-activity. It is exceedingly sensi-
tive to forces working along the negative pole and is there-
fore imitative and teacha])le.
Thus it is shown that all the negative qualities are active
in the new-born entity, but before it is able to use its
different vehicles, the positive qualities must be ripened.
Each vehicle is therefore brought to a certain degree of
maturity by the activity of the corresponding vehicle of
the macrocosm, which acts as a womb for it until that
degree is reached.
From the first to the seventh year the vital body grows
and slowly matures within the womb of the macrocosm ic
vital body and because of the greater wisdom of this vehicle
of the macrocosm the child's body is more rounded and
well-built than in later life.
Birth of the Vital Body.
- While the macrocosmic vital body guides the growth of
the child's body it is guarded from the dangers which later
threaten it when the unwise individual vital body takes
unciiecked charge. This happens in the seventh year, when
the period of excessive, dangerous growth begins, and con-
tinues through the ne.xt seven years. During this time
the macrocosmic desire body performs the function of a
womb for the individual desire body.
Were the vital body to have continual and unrestrained
sway in the human kingdom, as it has in the plant, man
would grow t^ an enormous size. There was a time in the
far-distant past when man was constituted like a plant,
142 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-("ONCEPTION
having only a dense body and a vital body. The traditions
of mythology and folk-lore all over the world concerning
giants in olden times are absolutely true, because then men
grew as tall as trees, and for the same reason.
Birth of the Desire Body.
The vital body of the plant builds leaf after leaf, carry-
ing the stem higher and higher. Were it not for the
macrocosmic desire body it would keep on in that way
indefinitely, but the nuicrocosmic desire body steps in at a
certain point and cheeks further growth. The force that
is not needed for further growth is then available for
other purposes and is used to build the flower and the seed.
In like manner the human vital body, when the dense
body comes under its sway, after the seventh year, makes
the latter grow very rapidly, but about the fourteenth year
the individual desire body is born from the womb of the
inacrocosmic desire body and is then free to work on its
dense l)ody. The excessive growth is then checked and
the force theretofore used for that purpose becomes available
for propagation, tliat the human plant may flower and
bring forth. Therefore the l)irth of tlie personal desire
body marks the ppriod of puberty. From this period the
attraction towards llio n])]iosite sex is felt, being especially
active and unrestrained in tlic third septenary period of
life — from the fourteenth to the twenty-first year, because
the restraining mind is then still unborn.
Birth of ttte ^Fixd.
After the fourteenth year, the mind is in turn lirooded
over and nurtured by the macrocosmic mind, unfolding its
latent possibilities and making it capable of original
thought. The forces of the individual's different vehicles
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 143
have now l)een ripened to such a dotrreo that he can use
ineni all in liis evolution, therefore at the twenty-first year
the Ego comes into possession of its complete vehicle. It
floes this hy means of the hlood-heat and hy developiuir
individual hlood. This is done in connection with the
full development of the light ether.
The Blood the Vehicle of the Ego.
in infancy, and up to the fourteenth year, the red mar-
row-hones do not make all the hlood corpuscles. Most of
them are supplied by the thymus gland, which is largest
in the foetus and gradually diminishes as the individual
Dlood-making faculty develops in the growing child. The
thymus gland contains, as it were, a supply of blood (nr-
puscles given by the parents, and consequently the child,
which draws its blood from that source, does not realize its
individuality. Not until the blood is made by the child
does it think of itself as "I,"' and when the thymus gland
disappears, at the age of fourteen, the "I" feeling reaches
its full e.xpression, fdr then the blood is made and dom-
inated entirely by the Ego. The following will make clear
the idea and its logic:
It will be rememlKJred that assimilation and growth de-
I)end upon the forces working along the positive pole of
the vital body's chemical ^ther. That is set free at the
seventh year, together with the balance of the vital body.
Only the chemical -ether is fully ripe at that time: the
other parts need more rijiening. At the fourteenth year
the life ether of the vital body, which has to do with
propagation, is fully ri])e. In the jx'riod from seven to
fourteen years of age the excessive assimilation has stored
up an amount of force which goes to the sex organs and
is ready at the time the desire body is set free.
144: ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Tliis force of sex is stored in tlie blood during the third
of the seven-year periods and in that time tlie light ether,
which is the avenue for the blood-heat, is developed and
controls the heart, so that the body is neither too hot nor
too cold. In early childhood the blood very often rises
to an abnormal temperature. During the period of ex-
cessive growth it is frequently the reverse, but in the hot-
headed, unrestrained youth, passion and temper very often
drive the Ego out by over-heating the blood. We very
appropriately call this an ebullition or boiling over of
temper and describe the effect as causing the person to
"lose his head," i. e., become incapable of thought. That
is exactly w'hat happens when passion, rage, or temper
overheats the blood, thus drawing the Ego outside the
bodies. The description is accurate when, of a person in
such a state^ we say, "He has lost control of himself." The
Ego is outside of his vehicles and they are running amuck,
bereft of the guiding influence of thought, part of the work
of which is to act as a brake on impulse. The great and
terrible danger of such outbursts is tliat before the owner
re-enters his body some disembodied entity may take pos-
session of it and keep him out. This is called "obsession."
Only the man who keeps cool and does not allow excess of
heat to drive him out can think properly. As proof of the
assertion that the Ego cannot work in the body when the
blood is either too hot or too cold we will call attention to
the well-known fact that excessive heat makes one sleepy
and, if carried beyond a certain point, it drives the Ego
out, leaving the lx)dy in a faint, that is, unconscious.
Excessive cold has also a tendency to make the body sleepy
or unconscious. It is only when the blood is at or near
the normal temperature that tlie Ego can use it as a
vehicle of consciousness.
MAN AND THE METHOD OF EVOLUTION 145
To further sliow the connection of the E^jo with the
blood we may mention the burning blush of shame, which
is an evidence of the manner in which the blood is driven
to the head, thus over-heating tlie brain and paralyzing
thought. Fear is the state when the Ego wants to barri-
cade himself against some outside danger. He then drives
the blood to the center and grows pale, because the blood
has left the periphery of the body and has lost heat, thus
paralyzing thought. His blood "freezes," he shivers and
his teeth chatter, as when the temperature is lowered by
atmospheric conditions. In fever the excess of heat causes
delirium.
The full-blooded person, when the blood is not too hot,
is active in body and mind, while the anemic person is
sleepy. In one the Ego has better control ; in the other less.
When the Ego wants to think it drives blood, at the proper
heat, to the brain. When a heavy meal centers the activity
of the Ego upon the digestive tracts, the man cannot think ;
he is sleepy.
The old Norsemen and the Scots recognized that the
Ego is in the blood. No stranger could become associated
with them as a relative until he had "mixed blood" with
them and thus become one of them. Goethe, who was an
Initiate, also showed this in his "Faust." Faust is about
to sign the compact with ^rejihistopheles and asks, "Why
not sign with ordinary ink? Why use blood?" ^fephisto
answers, "Blood is a most peculiar essence." He knows,
that who has the blood has the man : that without the
warm blood, no Ego can find expression.
The proper heat for the real expression of the Ego is not
present until the mind is born from the macrocosmic Con-
crete Mind, when the individual is about twentv-one years
346
ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
old. Statutory law also recognizes this as the earliest age
when the man is deemed fit to exercise a franchise.
At the present stage of human development the man
goes through these ]irincii)al stages in each life cycle, from
one birth to the next.
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iak<Cinnin<j of Serious L»'«ffc
CHAPTER iV.
Rebirth and the Law of Consequence.
OXLY three tlieories worthy of note have ever l)een
brought forward to solve the riddle of Lite and
Death.
In the previous chapter we have, to some extent, ex-
plained one of these three theories — that of Rebirth, to-
gether with its companion law, the law of Consequence.
It may not be out of jilace to compare the theory of Re-
l)irth with the other two theories advanced, with a view
to ascertaining their relative foundation in nature. To
the occultist there can be no question. He does not say
that he "believes" in it any more than we need to say that
we "l^elieve" as to the Iilnoming of the rose or the flowing
of the river, or the operation of any of the visible workings
of the material world, which are continually going on be-
fore our eyes. We do not say of these things that we "be-
lieve;'' we say that we "know,"' liecause we see them. So
the occult scientist can say "I know'' in regard to Rebirth,
the law of Conseipience and their corollaries. He sees tlie
Ego and can trace its patJi after it has ])assed out of thj
dense body at death until it has reappeared on (>artii
through a new l)irtlt. Therefore to him no "belief is
necessary. For the satisfaction of others, however, it mav
be well to examine these three theories of life and death
in order to arrive at an intelligent conclusion.
Any great law of nature must necessarily be in harmony
147
148 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
vith all her otlier laws. Therefore it may be very helpful
to the inquirer to examine these theories in their relation
to what are admitted by all parties to be "known laws of
nature," as observed in that part of our universe with
which we are more familiar. To this end we will first
state the three theories :
(1) The Materialistic Theory holds that life is a
journey from the womb to the tomb; that mind is
the result of certain correlations of matter; that
man is the highest intelligence in the Cosmos ; and,
that his intelligence perishes when the body disin-
tegrates at death.
(2) The Theory of Theology asserts that at each birth
a newly-created soul enters the arena of life fresh
from the hand of God, passing from an invisible
state through the gate of birth into visible exist-
ence; that at the end of one short span of life in
the material world it passes out through the gate
of death into the invisible beyond, whence it returns
no more; that its happiness or misery there is de-
termined for all eternity by its actions during the
infinitesimal period intervening between birth and
death.
(3) The Theory of Eebirth teaches that each soul is
an integral part of God, enfolding all divine possi-
bilities as the seed enfolds the ])lant; that by means
of repeated existences in an earthly body of gradu-
ally improving quality, the latent possibilities are
slowly developed into dynamic powers; that none
are lost by this process, but that all mankind will
ultimately attain the goal of perfection and re-union
with God.
The first of these theories is monistic. It seeks to ex-
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 149
plain all facts of existence as processes within the material
world. The two other theories agree in being dualistic,
that is, they ascribe some of the facts and phases of exist-
ence to a super-physical, invisible state, but they differ
widely on otlier points.
Bringing the materialistic theory into comparison with
the known laws of the universe, we find that the con-
tinuity of force is as well established as the continuity of
matter and both are beyond the need of elucidation. We
also know that matter and force are inseparable in the
Physical World. This is contrary to the materialistic the-
ory, which holds that mind ]3erishes at death. When
nothing can be destroyed, mind must be included. More-
over we know that mind is suj)erior to matter, for it molds
the face, so that it becomes a retleetion or mirror of the
mind. We have discovered that the particles of our bodies
are constantly changing; that at least once in seven years
there is a change in every atom of matter composing them.
If the materialistic theory were true, the consciousness
ought also to undergo an entire change, with no memory
of that which preceded, so that at no time could man re-
member any event more than seven years. We know that
this is not the case. We remember the events of our child-
hood. Many of the most trivial incidents thougli forgotten
in ordinary consciousness, have been distinctly recalled in
a swift vision of the whole life by drowning persons, who
have related the ex]x?rience after resuscitation. Similar
experiences in states of trance are also common. ^Materi-
alism is unable to account for tliese phases of sub- and
super-consciousness. It ignores them. At the present stage
of scientific investigation, where leading scientists have
establislied beyond a d()ul)t the existence of these jihonom-
ena, the policy of ignoring tliem is a serious defect in a
i;,0 KOSICRUCIAX COSMO-CONCEPTION
theory claiming to solve the greatest problem of life — ■
Life itself.
We may therefore safely pass from the materialistic
theory as being inadequate to solve the mystery of life and
death and turn to a consideration of the next theory.
One of the greatest objections to the orthodox theological
doctrine, as it is expounded, is its entire and confessed
inadequacy. Of the myriads of souls which have been
iTcated and have inhabited this Globe since the beginning
of existence, even if that beginning dates back no further
than six thousand years, the insignificant number of
only "one hundred and forty and four thousand'" arc to
be saved ! The rest are to be tortured forever and ever !
The devil gets the best of it all the time. One cannot help
saying with Buddha, "If God permits such misery to exist
He cannot be good, and if He is powerless to prevent it.
He cannot be God.''
Nothing in nature is analogous to such a metliod of
creation in order that destruction may follow. It is rcjire-
sented that God desires ALL should be saved and is averse
to the destruction of any, having for their salvation "given
His only Son," and yet this "glorious plan of salvation"
fails to save !
If a trans- Atlantic liner with two thousand souls on
board sent a wireless message that she was sinking just
off Sandy Hook, would it be regarded as a "glorious plan
of salvation'" if a fast motor-boat capable of rescuing only
two or three people, were sent to her aid? Certainly not;
It Avould more likely be denounced as a "plan of destruc-
tion" if adequate means were not provided for the saving
of at least the majority of those in danger.
l^ut the theologians" plan of salvation is vastly worse
than this, because two or three out of two thousand is an
JttEBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 151
immensely greater proportion than tlie orthodox theo-
logical plan of saving only 14-t,000 out of all the myriads
of souls created. We may safely reject this theory also,
as being untrue, because unreasonal)le. If God were all-
wise He would have evolved a more efficacious plan. So
He has, and the above is only the theory of the theologian.
The teaching of the Bible is very difl'erent. as will appear
later.
We turn now to consider the doctrine of Rebirth, which
postulates a slow process of development, carried on with
unwavering persistence through repeated embodiments in
forms of increasing efficiency whereby all are, in time,
brought to a height of spiritual splendor at present incon-
ceivable to us. There is nothing unreasonable nor difficult
to accept in siuli a tlicmy. As we look about us we find
everywhere in nature this striving foi- iierlVftion in a slow,
persistent manner. We find no sudden process of creation
or destruction, such as the theologian postulates, but we do
find "Evolution."'
Evolution is "the liistory of the progression of the
Spirit in Time.'" Everywhere, as we see about lis the
varied jiliniomena in tlie uui\erse, we realize that the path
of evolution is a spiral. Each loop of the si)iral is a cycle.
Each cycle mei-ges into the next, as tlie loops of the s])iral
are continuous, each cycle being the iinprovi'd ])roduct of
those preceding it and the creator of those more develo)HMl
states which succeed it.
A sti'aii^bt line i< liut the extension of a point. It occu-
]iies but one dimension in space. The theoiT of the mate-
rialist and that of the theologian would be analogous to this
liin'. The materiidist makes the line of life start at birth,
and to bo consistent, the death hour must terminate it.
The theoloijian comnuMices his line with the creation of
152 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
the soul just previous to birth. After death the soul lives
on, its fate irretrievably determined by the deeds of a few
short years. There is no coming back to correct mistakes.
The line runs straight on, implying a modicum of experi-
ence and no elevation for the soul after death.
Natural progression does not follow a straight line such
as these two theories imply ; nor even a circular path, for
that would imply a never-ending round of the same experi-
ences and the use of only two dimensions in space. All
things move in progressive cycles and in order to take
full advantage of all the opportunities for advancement
offered by our three-dimensional universe, it is necessary
that the evolving life should take the three-dimensional
path — the spiral — which goes ever onward and upward.
Whether we look at the modest little plant in our garden,
or go to the redwood district of California and examine one
of the giant sequoias with its forty-foot diameter, it is
always the same — every branch, twig or leaf will be found
growing in either a single or a double spiral, or in opposite
pairs, each balancing either, analogous to ebb and ilow,
day and night, life and death and other alternating activi-
ties in nature.
Examine the vaulted arch of the sky and observe the
fiery nebulae or the path of the Solar Systems — everywhere
the spiral meets the eye. In the spring the Earth discards
its white blanket and emerges from its period of rest —
its winter's sleep. All activities are exerted to bring forth
new life everywhere. Time passes. The corn and the
grape are ripened and harvested. Again the busy summer
fades into the silence and inactivity of the winter. Again
the snowy coverlet enwraps the Earth. But her sleep is
not forever; she will wake again to the song of the new
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF COXSEQUEXCE 153
spring, which will mark for her a little furtluM- progress
along the pathway of time.
So with the Sun. He rises in the morning of each day,
but each morning he is further along on his journey
through the year.
Everywliere the spiral — Onward, Upward, Forever!
Is it possible that this law, so universal in all other
realms, should Ixj inoperative in the life of man? Shall
the earth wake each year from its winter sleep; shall the
tree and the flower live again and man die? It cannot be!
The same law that wakes the life in the plant to new
growth will wake the human being to new experience, to
further progress toward the goal of perfection. Therefore
the theory of Rebirth, which teaches repeated embodiment
in gradually improving vehicles, is in perfect accord with
evolution and the phenomena of nature, which the other
two theories are 7iot.
Regarding life from an etliical vicwjjoint, we find that
the law of Rebirth coupled with the companion law of Con-
sequence, is the only theory that will satisfy a sense of
justice, in harmony with the facts of life as we see them
about us.
It is not easy for the logical mind to understand how a
'*just and loving'' God can reciuire the same virtues from
the milliards whom He has been "pleased to place in dif-
fering circumstances" according to no apparent rule nor
system, but willy-nilly, according to His own capricious
mood. One lives in luxury; the other on "kicks and
crusts." One has a moral education am! an atmosphere of
high ideals; the other is placed in squalid surroundings and
taught to lie and steal and that the more he does of both,
the more of a success he is. Is it just to require the same
of both? Is it right to reward one for living a good life
154 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
when lio was jil.uod in an cnvironniont that made it cx-
tvenioly dillii-nlt for him to i^o ai^trav. or to pnnish the
other, wlio was liandieappeil to pueh an extent that lie never
had an idea of what constitntes true morality. Surely not!
Is it not more lo^ieal to tliink that we may Iiave misin-
terpreted the Bihle than to impute to God such a mon-
strous plan and method of procedure?
It is useless to say that wc must not inquire into the
mysteries of God : that they are past our findinjj out. Tlie
inequalities of life can he satisfactorily explained l)y the
twin law of Reliirth and Consequence and made to har-
monize with the conception of a just and loving God, as
taught hy Christ Himself.
]\[oreover, hy means of these twin laws a way to emanci-
pation from present undesirable position or environment
is shown, together with the means of attaining to any de-
gree of development, no matter how imperfect we may he
now.
Wlial we are, what we have, all our good qualities are
the result of our own actions in the past. What we lack
in physical, moral, or mental excellence may yet he ours
in tlie future.
Exactly as we cannot do otherwise than take up our
lives each morning where we laid them down the preceding
niglit. .0 l)v our woi'k in ])rcvinus lives have we made the
conditions under which we now live and lahor, and are
at present creating the cnnditious of our future lives.
Instead of bemoaning the lack of this or that faculty which
we covet, we must set to Avork to acquire it.
Tf onf child plavs beautifully on a musical instrument,
with hardlv an effort at learning, while another, despite
persistent effort, is a poor player in comparison, it merely
shows that one expended the effort in a previous life and is
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 155
easily regaining a former proficiency, while the efforts of
the other have been started only in the present life, and
in consequence we see the uphill work. But, if the latter
persist, he may, even in the present life, become superior
to the former imless the former constantly imi)i'()ves.
That we do not remember the effort made in accjuiriiig
a faculty by hard work is immaterial : it does not alter
the fact that the faculty remains with us.
(Jcnius is the hall-mark of the advanced soul, which by
hard work in many previous lives has developed itself in
some way beyond the normal achievements of the race.
It reveals a glimi)se of the degree of attainment which
will be the common possession of the coming Race. It can-
not be accounted for by here<lity. wliich applies only in
part to the dense body and not to qualities of the soul. 1 1"
genius could be accounted for by heredity, why i^4 there
not a long line of mechanical ancestors i)revious to Thomas
Edison, each more capable than his predecessor? Why
does not genius propagate itself? Why is not Siegfried
the .son, greater than Richard Wagner, the fathei-?
In cases where the expression of genius depends upon
the possession of specially constructed organs. I'equiring
ages of development, the Ego naturally is reborn in a
family the Egos of which have, for generations, labored
to build a similar organism. That is why twenty-nine
musicians of more or less genius wei'e born in the Bach
family during a period of two hundred and tifty years.
That gejiius is an expression of the soul and not of the
body is shown by the fact that it did not gradually im-
prove and reach efflorescence in the i)erson of Jolin
Sebastian Bach, but that the proficiency which readied
its highest expression in him towered liigh above ances-
tors and descendants alike.
156 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Tho l)0(ly is simply an instrument, the work it yields
beinj; dependent upon the K{?o whieh jruides it. as the
quality of tlie melody is dependent upon the musieian's
skill, aided by the timbre of the instrument. A good
niusieian eannot fully express himself U{)on a poor in-
strument, and even upon the same instrument, all musi-
cians do not and eannot play alike. Because an EJfro
seeks rebirth as the son of a great musician it does not
necessarily follow that he must be a still greater genius,
as would be the case if physical heredity were a fact and
genius were not a soul-quality.
The "Law of Attraction" accounts in quite as satisfac-
tory a manner for the facts we ascribe to heredity. We
know that people of like tastes will seek one another. If
we know that a friend is in a certain city, but are igno-
rant of his address, we will naturally be governed by the
law of association in our efforts to find him. If he is a
musician, he will most likely be found where musicians
arc wont to assemble; if he is a student inquiry Avill be
made at libraries, reading-rooms and book stores, or if he
is a sporting man we would seek him at race tracks, pool-
rooms or saloons. It is not probable that the musician or
the student would frequent the latter places and it is safe
to say that our search for the sporting man would not be
successful if we sought him in a library or at a classical
concert.
Similarly, the Ego ordinarily gravitates to the most
congenial associations. It is constrained to do s» by one
of the twin forces of the Desire World — the force of
Attraction.
The objection may be urged that there are people of
entirely opposite tastes, or bitter enemies even, in the
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 157
same family, and if the law of Association governed why
should they be attracted thereto?
The explanation of such cases is that during the Ego's
earth lives many relations had been established with vari
ous people. These relations were pelasant or otherwise,
involving on the one hand obligations which were not
liquidated at the time ; or on the other involving the
infliction of an injury and a feeling of very strong hate
between the injured and his enemy. The law of Conse
quence requires an exact adjustment of the score. Death
does not "pay it all" any more than moving to another
city will liquidate a monetary del)t. The time comes
when the two enemies shall meet again. The old hate has
brought them together in the same family, because it is
the purpose of God that all shall love one another; there-
fore hate must be transformed into love and though, per-
chance, they may spend many lives "fighting it out,"
they will at some time learn the lesson and become friends
and mutual benefactors instead of enemies. In such
cases the Interest these people had in one another set in
action the force of Attraction, and that brought them
together. Had they simply been mutually Indift'crent,
they could not have become associated.
Thus do the twin laws of Rebirth and ( "onsefjuence solve,
in a rational manner, all the pi-oblems incident to human
life as man steadily advances toward the next stage in
evolution — the Superman. The trend of humanity's
progress is onward and ui)ward forever, says this theory
— not as some people think who have confounded the doc-
trine of Rebirth with the foolish teaching of some Indian
tribes who l)elievc that man is i-cborn in animals or
plants. That would be retrogression. No authority for
this doctrine of retrogression can be found in nature ov
158 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
in tho sacred books of any religion. In one (and one only)
of tlio religious writings of India is it touched upon. In
the Kathopanishad (ch. v; verse 9) it is stated that 'SSome
men, accoi-ding to their deeds, go into the womb and others
into the 'sthami.' '' "Sthanu" is a Sanskrit word, which
means "motioidoss." but it also moans "a pillar," and has
been interpreted to mean that some men, because of their
sins, go back to the auotionless plant kingdom.
Spirits incarnate only to gain experience; to conquer
the world ; to overcome the lower self and attain self-mas-
tery. When we realize this we shall understand that there
comes a time when there is no further need for incarnation
because the lessons have all been learned. The teaching
of the Kathopanishad indicates that instead of remaining
tied to the wheel of birth and death, man will at some time
go into the motionless state of "Nirvana."
In the Book of Eevelation we find these words : "Him
that overcometh will I make a pilar in the temple of my
God and he shall go no more out," referring to entire lib-
eration from concrete existence. Nowhere is there any
authority for the doctrine of the transmigration of souls.
A man who has evolved so far as to have an individual,
separate soul cannot turn l)ack in his progress and enter the
vehicle of niiiiual or plant, which are under a group-spirit.
The individual sjur.it is a higher evolution than the group-
spirit and tlio lesser cannot contain the greater.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his beautiful poem, "The
Chambered Nautilus," has embodied this idea of constant
progression in gradually improving vehicles, and final lib-
eration. The nautilus builds its spiral shell in chaml^ered
sections, constantly leaving the smaller ones, which it has
outgrown, for the one last built: «
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 159
Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as tiie spiral grew,
He left tlie past jear's dwelling for the new.
Stole with soft step its shiuiug archway through,
Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no moie.
Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,
Child of the wandering sea,
Cast from her lap forlorn I
From thy dead lijis a dearer note is born
Than ever Triton blew from wr^'ath^d horn!
While on mine ear it rings,
Through the deep caves Of thought I hear a voice that sings:
Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul!
As tiie swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than llio last,
Shut thoe from heaven with a dome more vast.
Till thou at length art free,
l^eaving thine outgrown siicll bv life's unresting sea!
The necessity, previously referred to, of obtaining an
organism of a specific nature, brings to mind an interest-
ing phase of the twin laws of Rebirth and Consequence.
These laws are connected with the motion of the (,'osmic
bodies, the Sun, the planets and the signs of the Zodiac.
All move in harmony with these laws, guided in their
orbits by their indwelling spiritual Intelligences — the
Planetary Spirits.
On account of the precession of the equinoxes the Sun
moves backward through the twelve signs of the Zodiac at
the rate of approximately one degree of space in 72 yeare,
and through each sign (30 degrees of space) in about 2.100
years, or around the whole circle in about 26.000 years.
This is due to the fact that the Earth does not spin upon
a .stationary axis. Its axis has a slow, swinging motion of
its own (just like the walililc of n spinning to]) that has
160 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
almost spent its force), so that it describes a circle in
space and thus one star after another becomes Pole Star.
Because of this wabbling motion the Sun does not cross
the equator in the same place every year, but a few hun-
dred rods further back, hence the name, the "precession
of the equinoxes," because the equinox "precedes" —
comes too early.
All happenings on the Earth in connection with the
other Cosmic bodies and their inhabitants are connected
with this and other Cosmic movements. So are also the
laws of Rebirth and Consequence.
As the Sun passes through the different signs in the
course of the year, the climatic and other changes affect
man and his activities in different ways. Similarly the
passage of the Sun by the precession of the equinoxes,
through the twelve signs of the Zodiac — which is called a
World-year, brings about conditions on the Earth of a far
greater variety. It is necessary to the gi'owth of the soul
that it should experience them all. In fact, as we have
seen, the man himself makes these conditions while in the
Heaven World between l)irths. Therefore, every Ego is
born twice during the time the Sun is passing through one
sign of the Zodiac ; and, as the soul itself is necessarily
double-sexcd, in oi-der to obtain all experience, it is reborn
alternately in a male and a female body. This is because
the experience of one sex differs widely from that of the
other. At the same time, the outside conditions are not
gi-eatly altered in one thousand years and therefore per-
mit the entity to receive experience in the same identical
environment from the standpoint of both man and woman.
These are the general terms upon which the law of
Rebirth operates, but as it is not a blind law, it is subject
to frequent modifications, determined by the Lords of
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 161
Destiny, the Recording Angels, as, for instance, in a case
where an Ego needs a sensitive eye or ear and there is an
opportunity for giving it the required instrument in a
family with which relations have previously been estab-
lished. The time for the re-embodiment of the Ego in ques-
tion may lack, perhaps, two hundred years of being ripe,
according to the average period, but it is seen by the Lords
of Destiny that unless this opportunity is embraced, the
Ego will perhaps have to spend four or five hundred years
in heaven in excess of the time required, before another
chance will present itself. Therefore the Ego is brought
to rebirth ahead of schedule time, so to si)eak. the de-
ficiency of rest in the third heaven being made up at an-
other time. So we see that, not only do the departed work
on us from the Heaven Woi-ld. but we also woi-k on them,
attracting or repelling them. A favorable opportunity
for procuring a suitable instrument iiia\' atti-act an Ego
to rebirth. Had no instrument been available, he would
have been kept longer in heaven and the surplus time
deducted from his succeeding heaven lives.
The law of Consequence also woi'ks in harmony with
the stars, so that <i man is born at the //»ir whoi the posi-
twns of ilie hodics in the solar si/sfrm mJl (//rr the con-
dition's necrssarii to liis erpcrifure and advmwinu ni in
the scJiool of life. That is why A.strology is an ai)soiutely
true science, though even the best astrologer may misin-
teri)ret it. because, like all other human beings, he is
fallible. The stai-s show accurately the time in a man's
life when the debt which the Tjords of Destiny have se-
lected foi- payment is due. and to evade it is beyond the
|)owei' of man. Ves, they show the very day. alllmutrh
we are not always able to read them correctly.
Pei-hai)s the most striking instance known to the wiitc!'
163 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
of this inability to escape what is written in the stars,
tliough perfectly cognizant of it, occurred in Los x4ngeles,
California, in 1906, Some instructions in astrology were
given to Mr. L., a well-known lecturer. Mr. L.'s own
horoscope was taken up, because a pupil will be more in-
terested in that than in the nativity of a stranger. He is
also enabled to check the accuracy of the interpretation
of the signs which are given him. The horoscope revealed
a liability to accidents and Mr, L. was shown how acci-
dents and other events in the past figured to the time of
occurrence. In addition, he was told that another accident
would befall him and that it would occur on the twenty-
first of the following July, or the seventh day after, i, e,,
on the twenty-eighth, the latter day being regarded as the
more dangerous. He was warned against conveyances of
any kind and the place of the threatened injury was desig-
nated as the breast, shoulders, arms and lower part of the
head. He was thoroughly convinced of tlie danger and
promised to remain at home on that day.
The writer went north to Seattle and a few days before
the critical time wrote to Mr. L. and again warned him,
Mr. L. answered that he remembered the warning and
would act accordingly.
The next communication in regard to the matter came
from a mutual friend, who stated that on the 28th of July
Mr. L. had gone to Sierra Madre on an electric car which
had collided with a railroad train. Mr. L. sustaining in-
juries of the exact description mentioned and also having a
tendon cut in the left leg.
The question was why Mr. L., having entire faith in
the prediction, had disregarded the advice. * The explana-
tion came three months later, when he had recovered suffi-
EEBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 103
ciently to write. The letter said, '"I thought the 28th was
the 29th."
There is no question in the writer^s mind that this was
a piece of "ripe" fate, impossible to escape, whicli was
accurately foreshown by the stars.
The stars may therefore be called the "Clock of Des-
tiny." The twelve signs of the Zodiac correspond to the
dial ; the Sun and the planets to the hour hand, which
indicates the year; and tlie ^[oon to the minute hand, indi-
cating the month of the year when the different items in
the score of ripe fate allotted to each life are due to work
themselves out.
It cannot be sufficiently emphasized, however, that
though there are some things that cannr ' be escaped, man
has a certain scope of free will in modifying causes already
set going. A poet puts it tlnis :
One ship sails cast and another sails west
With the self-same win<ls that blow.
'Tis the set of the sail and not the gale
Which determines the way they go.
As the winds of the sea are the ways of fate
As we voyajje along throngh life,
'Tis the act of the soul that determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.
The great [loint to gras]) is that our ])rosent actions
dcterniine future conditions.
Orthodox r(>ligionists and oven those who ])rofcss no
religion at all. often bring forward as one of their strong-
est objections to the law of Rebirth that it is taught in
India to the "ignorant heathen," who Iwlieve in it. If it
is a natural law. however, there is no objection strong
enough to invalidate it or make it ino|-)erative. Before
we speak of "ignorant heathen," or send missionaries to
them, it might be well to examine our own knowledge a
16-t KO!SI( KTC lAX fOSMO-CONCEPTION
little. Educators everywhere oom])lain of superficiality on
the part of our students. Professor Wilbur L. Crops, of
Yale, mentions among otiier startling eases of ignorance,
the fact that in a class of forty students, not one could
"place" Judas Jscariot!
It would seem as though the labors of missionaries could
profitably be diverted from "heathen" countries and from
slum work to enlighten the college-bred individuals of our
own country, on the principle that "charity begins at
home," and, "as God will not let the ignorant heathen
perish'' it w'ould seem better to leave him in ignorance where
he is sure of heaven, than to enlighten him and so render
his chances of going to hell legion. Surely, this is a case
of "Where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise." We
would be doing ourselves and the heathen a signal service
by letting him alone and looking after the ignorant Chris-
tian nearer home.
Moreover, to call this a heathen doctrine does not dis-
prove it. Its assumed priority in the I^a,st is no more an
argument against it than the accuracy of the solution of a
jnathematical problem is invalidated because we do not
happen to like the person who first solved it. The only
question is, is it correct? If so, it .is absolutely immaterial
whence the solution first came.
All other religions have been but leading up to the
Christian religion. They were Eace Eeligions and con-
tain only in part that which Christianity has in fuller
measure. The real Esoteric Christianity has not yet been
taught publicly, nor will it be so taught until humanity
has passed the materialistic stage and becomes fitted to
receive it. The law^s of Rebirth and Consequence have
been secretly taught all the time, but, by the direct Com-
mand of Christ Himself, as we shall see, these two laws
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 165
liave not been puhVuhj taught in the Western world for
the past two thousand years.
Wine as a Factor in Evolution.
To understand tlie reason for this omission and the
moans employed to obscure these teachings, we must go
back to the beginning of man's history and see how, for
his good, he has been led by the Great Teacher of liuman-
ity.
In the teaching of occult science the stages of develop-
ment on the eartli are divided into periods called
'"Epochs." There have been four of these Epochs, which
are designated as follows, respectively: The Polarian. the
Hyperborean, the Ijemurian, the Atlantean. The present
Epoch is called the Aryan Epoch.
In the First or Polarian Epoch, what is now humanity
had only a dense body, as the minerals have now, hence
he was mineral-like.
In the Second or Hyperborean Epoch, a vital body was
added and man-in-the-making possessed a body constituted
as are those of plants. He was not a ])lant. but was plant-
like.
In the Third or Leiuurian K])och, ho obtained hi- desire
body and l)ecame constituted like the animal — an nniinal-
man.
In the h'i)urth or Atlantean E])oili. mind was un folded
and now, so far as his principles are concerned, ho steps
upon the stage of physical life as MAX.
In the present, the Fifth or Aryan Epoch, man will in
some degree unfold the third or lowest aspect of hi< throe-
fold spirit — the Ego.
Tlie student is requested to strongly impress upon bis
166 ROSTCRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
mind the emphatic statement that in the process of evolu-
tion up to the time when man gained self -consciousness,
absolutely nothing teas left to chance.
After gaining self-consciousness there is a certain scope
for the exercise of man's own individual will to enable
unfold his Divine spiritual powers.
The great Leaders of mankind take even'thing into
consideration, the food of man included. This has a
great deal to do with his development. "Tell me what
you eat and I will tell you what you are" is not a far-
fetched idea, but a great truth in nature.
The man of the first Epoch was ethereal. That does
not contradict the statement that he was mineral-like, for
all gases are mineral. The Earth was still soft, not yet
having solidified. In the Bible man is called Adam and
it is said that he was made of earth.
Cain is described as an agriculturist. He symbolizes
the man of the Second Epoch. He had a vital body like
the plants which sustained him.
In the Third Epoch food was obtained from living
animals to supplement the former plant food. Milk was
the means used for evolving the desire body, which made
the mankind of that time animal-like. This is what is
meant by the Bible statement that "Abel was a shepherd.''
It is nowhere stated that he killed animals.
In the Fourth Epoch man had evolved be3'ond the ani-
mal — he had mind. Thought breaks down nerve cells;
kills, destroys and causes decay. Therefore the focfd of
the Atlantean was, by analogy, dead carcasses. He killed
to eat and that is why the Bible states that "Nirarod was
a mighty hunter." Nimrod represents the ninn of the
Fourth Epoch.
In the meanwhile, man had descended deeper and deeper
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 167
into matter. His former ethereal body formed the skel-
eton within and had become solid. He had also lost by
degrees the spiritual perception which was possessed by
him in the earlier Epochs. Thus it was designed. He is
destined to get it back at a higher stage, plus the self-
consciousness which he did not then possess. He had,
however, during the first four Epochs, a greater knowl-
edge of the si)i ritual world. He knew he did not die and
that when one body wa.sted away it was like the drying
of a leaf from the tree in the autumn — anothei- l)ody
would grow to take its place. Therefore ho had no i-eal
appreciation of the opportunities and advantages of this
J^arth life of concrete existence.
But it was necessaiy that he should become thoroughly
awake to the great importance of this concrete existence,
so that he might learn from it all that could be learned.
So lon^ as he felt that he was a citizen of the higher
Worlds and knew for a certainty that physical life is but
a small ])art of real existence he did not take it seriouslj''
enough. He did not apply himself to the cultivation of
the op])oi'tunities for growth which are found only in the
present i)hasc of existence. He dallied his time away
without developing the resources of the worlil. as do the
I>eople of India today, for the same rea.son.
The only way in which an appreciation of concrete
physical existence could be aroused in man was by de-
priving him of the memory of his higher, spiritual exist-
ence for a few lives. Thus, during his Earth life, he
came to hold no positive knowledge of any other than the
one present physical life, and was in this way impelled
to earnestly apply himself to living it.
There had been religions previous to Christianity which
had taught Kebirth and the law of Consequence, but the
168 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
time had now come wlien it was no longer conducive
to man's advancement that he should know this doctrine,
and ifrnorance concerning it came to be regarded as a sign
of progress. This one single life was to be made para-
mount. Therefore we find that the Christian Religion, as
publicly taught, does not embody the laws of Consequence
and Eebirth. Nevertheless, as Christianity is the religion
of the' most advanced Race, it must be the most advanced
Religion, and Ijecause of the elimination of this doctrine
from its public teachings, the conquest of the world of
matter is being made by the Anglo-Saxon and Teutonic
races, in which this phase has been carried furthest.
As some new addition to or change in the food of man
had been made in every Epoch to meet its conditions and
accomplish its purposes, we now find added to the food
of the previous Epochs a new article — WINE. It was
needed on account of its benumbing effect upon the spir-
itual principle in man, because no religion, in and of
itself, could have made man forget his nature as a spirit
and have caused him to think of himself as "a worm of the
dust," or made him believe that 'Ve walk with the same
force with which we think" — indeed, it was never in-
tended that he should go so far as that.
Hitherto only water had been used as a drink and in
the ceremonies of the Temple service, but after the sub-
mergence of Atlantis — a continent which once existed be-
tween Europe and America, Avhere the Atlantic Ocpan now'
lies — those who escaped destruction began to cultivate
the vine and make wine, as we find narrated in the Bible
story of Xoah. Noah symbolizes the remnant of the At-
lantean Epoch, which became the nucleus of the Fifth
Race — therefore our progenitors.
The active principle of alcohol is a "spirit" and as the
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 1 <19
humanity of the earlier Epochs used the articles of food
best suited to their vehicles, so this spirit was, in the Fifth
Epoch, added to the foods previously used by evolving
humanity. It acts upon the spirit of the Fifth Epoch
man, temporarily paralyzinfr it, that it may know, esteem
and conquer the physical world and value it at its proper
worth. Thus man forgets, for the time being, his spir-
itual home, clinging to this form of existence, which he
has previously despised, with all the tenacity born of a
feeling that this is all there is — or at least, preferring
the certainty of this world to taking chances on a heaven
which, in his present muddled state, he does not under-
stand.
Water only had been used in the Temples, but now this
is altered. "Bacchus,'' a god of wine, appears and under
his sway the most advanced nations forget that there is a
higher life. None who offer tribute to the counterfeit
spirit of wine or any alcoholic liquor (the product of
fermentation and decay) can ever know anything of the
higher Self — the true Spirit which is the very source of
life.
All this was preparatory to the coming of Christ, and
it is of the highest significance that Ilis frsf art was to
change "water into wine."' (John ii:ll.)
In private lie taught T{el)irth to Ilis disciples. He not
only taught thorn in words, but lie took them "into the
mountain." This is a mystic term meaning a ]ilaco of
Initiation. In the course of Initiation they see for them-
selves thai I\oliii-th is a fact, for there Elijah ajipearcd
before thoni. who. they are told, is also John the Baptist.
Christ, in unequivocal terms, had previously told tliem,
when speaking of John the Baptist, "this is Elijah who
was for to come." He reiterates this at the transfigura>-
170 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
tion scene, sayiiij?. "Elijah has come already and they
knew him not. but have done to him whatsoever they list-
ed. " And following this, it is said that "they understood
He spake of John the Baptist" (Matt, xvii :12-13) . On this
occasion, and also at the time when Rebirth was discussed
between Him and His di.sciples. they told Him that some
thought He was Elijah and others that He was one of the
prophets who had been reborn. He commanded them
to "tell no man." (Matt, xvii :9 ; Luke ix:21). This
was to be, for thousands of years, an esoteric teaching,
to be known only among the few pioneers who fitted
themselves for the knowledge, pushing ahead to the
Stage of development when these truths will again be
known to man.
That Chi'ist taught Rebirth and also the law of t'on-
sequenee is perhaps shown in no other place as clearly
as in the case of the man who had been bom blind, where
PHs disciples asked, "Who did sin, this man or his par-
ents, that he was born blind ? " (Johnix:2).
Had Christ not taught Rebirth and the law of Conse-
(lucncc, the natural answei" would have been, "Nonsense!
how could a man have sinned before he was horn, and
have bi-ought blindness upon himself as a result?" But
Chiist docs not answer in that way. He is not surprised
at the (pu'stion. nor does He treat it as being at all un-
usual, showing that it was quite in harmony with His
teachings. He explains, "Neither hath this man sinned,
noi- his parents; but that the works of (the) God should
be made manifest in him."
The orthodox intcrj)retation is that the man was born
blind in order that Christ might have the opportunity of
performing a miracle to show His power. H would have
been a strange way for a God to obtain glory — capriciously
REBIHTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE HI
condemning a man to many years of blindnes? and ini^ciy
that Ho might "show off" at a future time! We would
consider a man who acted in such a manner a monster
of cruelty.
How much more logical to think that there may he
another explanation. To impute to God conduct which, in
a human being, we would denounce in the strongest terms,
is surely unreasonable.
Christ differentiates between the physically blind body
of the man and the God within, which is the Higher Self.
The dense body has committed no sin. The God within
has done some deed which manifests in the particular
affliction from which he is suffering. It is not stretching
a point to call a man a God. Paul says, "know ye not
that ye are Gods?" and he refers to the human body as
tlie "temple of God," the indwelling spirit.
Finally, although most people do not remember their
past lives, there are some who do, and all may know if
they will live the life necessary to attain the knowledge.
This requires great strengtli of character, l)ecaupe such
knowledge will carry with it a knowledge of imi)en(ling
fate that may be hanging black and sinister over one,
which will manifest in dire disaster. Nature has gra-
ciously hidden the past and the future from us, tluit we
may not be robbed of }X!ace of mind by suffering in antici-
pation of the pain in store for us. As we attain greater
develojmient we shall learn to welcome all things with
equanimity, seeing in all troubles the result of past evil
and feeling thank ful that the obligation^ incurred thereby
arc being annulled, knowing that so much less stands
between us and the day of liberal ioTi from the wjieel of
birth and death.
When a person dies in childhood in one life, he or she
172 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
not iiil'iT<iiU'iitly iiMueiiibers lluil life in th(> next body,
because ehildreu under 14 years do not journey around
the entire life eycle, which necessitates the building of a
complete set of new vehicles. They simply pass into the
upper Regions of the Desire Woi-ld and there wait for a
new embodiment, which usually takes place in from one
to twenty years after death. When they return to birth,
they brinj^ with them the old mind and desire body, and
if we listened to the prattle of children, we should often
be able to discover and reconstruct such stories ;is the
following:
A Remarkable Story.
One day in Santa Barbara, Cal., a man by the name of
Roberts came to a trained clairvoyant who is also a lecturer
on Theosophy and asked for help in a i)erplexing case.
Mr. Roberts had been walking in the street the previous
day when a little three-year-old girl came up to him and
put her arms around his knees, calling him papa. Mr.
Roberts was indignant, thinking that someone was tiying
to father the child on him. But the mother of the child,
who came up directly, was equally put out and tried to get
the child away. The child, however, kept on clinging
to Mr. R., insisting that he was her father. On account
of circumstances to be told later Mr. R. could not put
it out of his mind, and sought out the chirvoyant, who
accompanied him to the house of the child's parents,
where the little girl at once ran up to Mi'. R. and again
called him ])apa. The clairvoyant, Avhom 1 will call X.
first took the child over to the window to note whether
the iris of the eye would ex])and and contract when he
turned her to and from the light, in order to see whether
another entity than the rightful owner was in possession
REBIRTH AND THE LAW OF CONSEQUENCE 173
of the child's body, I'ur the eye is the window of the soul
and no ' ' obsessing ' ' entity can secure control of that part.
Mr. X. found, however, that the child was normal, and
next proceeded to (jucstion the little one carefully. After
patient work carried on intermittently. during the after-
noon, so as not to tire the child, this is the story she tolil :
She had lived with her pajja, Mr. Roberts, and another
mamma in a little house that stood all alone, where no
other house could be seen ; there was a little brook close
to the hou.se where some Howers grew (and here she ran
out and brought in some '"pussy-willows") and there was
a plank across the brook which she was cautioned against
crossing, for fear she might fall into the brook. One day
her i)apa had left her mother anci herself and had not
returned. When their supply of food was exhausted her
mamma lay down on the bed and became so still. At last
she said quaintly, "then I also died, but I didn't die. 1
came here."
Ml'. Roberts next told his story. Eighteen years before
he lived in London, where his father was a brewer. He
fell in love with their servant girl. His father objected,
so he eloped with her to Australia after they had first
been married. Here he went out into the bush and cleared
a little farm, where he erected ;i small cabin by ;i bi-ook.
just as described by the little girl. A daughter was born
to them there, and when she was about two yeai's old he
left the house one morning and went to a clearing .some
distance from the house, and while there a man with a
rifle came up to him. saying that he arrested him in the
name of the law for a 1)ank robbery committed on the
night Mr. R. had left England. The oflficcr had tracked
him heiv. thinking him the criminal. Mi'. R. b(>gged to
be alhnved to go to his wit'c and cliihl. ]>u1. tjiiiikinir this
J 74 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
a ruse to entrap him into tlie hands of confeclerates, the
officer refused and drove liini to the coast at the ])oint of
the gun. He was taken to England and tried and lii.s in-
nocence proven.
First tlien did the authorities take liced of his constant
ra\ings ahout his wife and chikl, whom he knew must
starve in that wikl and lonely country. An expedition
was sent out to the cabin, wlien it was found that only the
skeletons of the wife and child remained. 'Sir. Eoberts'
father had died in the meantime, and though he had
disinherited Mr. E., his brothers divided with him and he
came to America a broken man.
He then produced photographs of himself and his wife,
and at the suggestion of Mr. X. they were mixed with a
number of other photographs and shown to the little girl,
wlio unhesitatingly plcKea oi.t the photographs of both
her alloired parents, althougli Ihe photograph shown v 'S
very did'erent from the present appearance of Mr. Roberts.
PART II.
Cosmogenesis and Anthropogenesis
CHAPTER- V.
The ]?klatiox of Man to God.
IX the preceding chapters we have been considering
man in relation to thiee of the five Worlds which
form the field of his evolution. We have partly de-
scribed these Worlds and noted the different vehicles of
consciousness by means of wliicli he is correlated to them.
We have studied his relation ti) tlie other tiiree king-
doms — mineral, plant and animal — noting the difference
in vehicles, and consequent diirerence in consciousness,
between man and each of these kingdoms. We have fol-
lowed man throui^h one life cycle in the three Worlds
and have examined the operation of the twin laws of
Consequence and liel)irth in their bearing upon the evolu-
tion of man.
In order to understand further details as to the iirng-
ress of man. it now becomes necessary to study his reliition
to the (Jrand Architect of the T'nivcrse — to (Jod and to
the Hierarchies of Celestial Beings which stand ujion the
many different nings of the Jacob's ladder of attainment
that stretches from man to TJod and l)Cvond.
This is a task of the utmost difliculty. rendered still
more so by the indefinite conceptions of God which exist
in the minds of the majoritv of the readers of literature
dealing with this subject. It i- true that names, in and
of themselves, are not important. Init it matters greatly
that we know wluit we m<'an by a name; otherwise misun-
Dift«^reitn k.
Ut Cosmic Plftoe /a a X
6t^? Cosmic Plane
God 5 o]- ol>7€r Jolih
ith Cosmic rldkneirjtlu<i€& all btlouo
this line, the stver? Lworlds btifj
Svbdivi^ioRS o]- \X.
"Wi
1 I5^?£ UJorU o| God
2"^he UUorid o|- Vir^f?3pinh
5^he UJorl(Lo[ Divine ')pirit
4(5he "iDorld oj- L.|£ j)pirlt
? S^he'UJorldo[ <5hou^W t
G"5he \Uorld c^ TDc^ire
T^he Phv^.t&\ TJJorld
THE RELATION OF MAN TO GOD 179
(lerstandinor will result, and if a common nomenclature is
not a^'rec'd upon by writers and teachers, the present con-
fusion will be worse confounded. "When the name ''God"
is used it is always uncertain whether The Absolute. The
One Existence, is meant; or The 8u])reme Bein<r, Who is
the Great Arciiitect of tlic Universe; or God, Who is the
Architect of our Solar System.
The division of the Godliead into "Father," "Son" and
"Holy Ghost"' is also confusing. Although the Beings
designated by these names are immeasurably above man
and worthy of all the reverence and worship he is cajiable
of rendering to his highest conceptions of Divinity, yet
They are different from one another in actual fact.
Diagrams 6 and 12 will perhaps make the suljjcct clear.
It must be kept in mind that the Worlds and Cosmic
Planes are not one above another in space, but that tiie
seven Cosmic Planes inter-])enctrate each other and all the
seven Worlds. They are states of spirit-matter, permeating
one another, so that God and the other great Beings who
are mentioned are not far away in space. They pervade
every part of their own realms and realms of greater
density than their own. They are all ]iresent in our world
and are actually and tlr fnrfo "nearer thaa hands and
feet." Tt is a literal truth when we say "in Him we live
and move and have our being." for none of us could
exist outside these great Intelligences Who pervade and
sustain our world with Their Life.
It has been shown that the Etheric l^egion extends
beyond the atmosphere of our dense Earth : that the De-
sire World extends out into space further than the Etheric
Region: also that the World of Thought extends further
into inter-planetary Space than either of the others. Of
course, the Worlds of rarer substance occupy a larger space
180 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
than the denser World, which has crystallized and con-
densed, thus oecupyinj? less space.
The same principle is operative in the (Josmic Planes.
The densest of them is the seventh (counting from the
top downward). It is represented in the diagram as
laiger than any of the others, the reason being that it
is the plane with which we are most intimately concerned,
and it was desired to indicate its principal subdivisions.
In reality, however, it occupies less space than any of the
other Cosmic Planes, although it must be borne in mind
that, even with this comparatively restrictive qualification
as to its extent, it is still immeasurably vast, far beyond
tlie utmost power of the human mind to conceive, com-
pi'isiiig within its limits millions of Solar Systems .similar
to our own, which are the fields for the evolution of many
grades of beings of approximately our own status.
Of the six Cosmic Planes above our own we know
nothing, save that we are told they are the fields of
activity of great Hierarchies of Beings of indescribable
s])lendor.
Proceeding from our Physical World to the inner and
finer Worlds and up through the Cosmic Planes, we find
that God, the Architect of our Solar System, the Source
and Goal of our existence, is found in the highest division
of the seventh Cosmic Plane. This is His World.
His Realm includes the systems of evolution carried on
in the other planets wliich belong to our system — Uranus.
Saturn. Jupiter, ]\Iars, Earth. Venus, Mercury, and their
satellites.
The great Spiritual Intelligences designated as the
Planetary Spirits, which guide these evolutions, are called
the "Seven Spirits before the Throne." They are His
Ministers, each presiding over a certain department of the
Kingdom of God — which is our Solar System. The Sun
THE RELATION OF AIAX TO GOD 181
is also the field of evolution of the most exalted Beings
in our Cosmos. They alone can endure and advance by
means of the terrific solar vibrations. The Sun is the
nearest approach we have to a visible symbol of God,
yet it is but a veil for That which is behind. What 'i'hat
is cannot be uttered pul)licly.
Wlicn we try to discover the origin of the Architect of
our Solar System, we find that we must pass to the highest
of the seven Cosmic Planes. We are then in the Realm
of The Supreme Being, Who emanated from The Absolute.
The Absolute is beyond comprehension. No expression
nor simile whicli we are capable of conceiving can possibly
convey any adequate idea I\[anifestation implies limita-
tion. Therefore, we may at Ijest characterize The Abso-
lute as Boundless Being; as the Root of Existence.
From the Root of Existence — The Absolute — proceeds
the Supreme Being, at the dawn of manifestation. This
is THE ONE.
In the first chapter of John this Great Being is called
God. From tliis Supreme Being emanates Tiie Word, the
Creative Fiat "without whom was not anything made/'
and this Word is the alone-begotten Son, born of His
Father (the Supreme Being) before all worlds — but posi-
tively nut Christ. Grand and glorious as is Christ, tower-
ing high above mere liiuiian nature. He is not this Exalted
Being. Truly "the Word was made flesh,'' but not in the
limited sense of the flesh of one body. Iiut the flesh of all
that is, in this and millions of other Solar Systems.
The First Asju-ct of the Sujircme Being may Ik." char-
acterized as I'OWKH. Fi'oii) tills ])ro(eeds tbe Second
Aspect, '111 !•: WOliD: mikI finiii both of tbcso i)rocecds tbe
Tbird Aspirt. MOTKlW
From this tbrwfold Supreme Being proceed tbe seven
182 ROSICKUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Civeat Logoi. They contain witliin Themselves all the
great Hierarchies Avhich differentiate more and more as
They diffuse through the various Cosmic Planes. (See
diagram 0.) Tiiere are forty-nine Hierarchies on the sec-
ond Cosmic Piano ; on the third there are 343 Hierarchies.
Each of these is capable of septenary divisions and subdi-
visions, so that in the lowest Cosmic Plane, where the
Solar Systems manifest, the number of divisions and sub-
divisions is almost infinite.
In the Highest World of the seventh Cosmic Plane
dwells the God of our Solar System and the Gods of all
other Solar Systems in the Universe. These great Beings
are also threefold in manifestation, like The Supreme
Being. Their three aspects are Will, Wisdom and Activity.
Each of the seven Planetary Spirits which proceed
from God and have charge of the evolution of life on one
of the seven planets, is also threefold and differentiates
within itself Creative Hierarchies which go through a
septenary evolution. The evolution carried on by one
Planetary Spirit differs from the methods of development
inaugurated by each of the others.
It may be furtlier stated tliat. at least in the particular
planetary scheme to which we belong, the entities farthest
evolved in the earliest stages, who had reached a high
stage of perfection in previous evolutions, assume tlie func-
tions of the original Planetary Spirit and continue the
evolution, the original Planetary Spirit withdrawing from
active participation, l)ut guiding its Regents.
The foregoing is the teaching relative to all the Solar
Systems, but coming down to the particular System to
which we belong, the following is the teaching which the
sufficiently trained Seer can obtain for himself by per-
gonal investigation of the memory of nature.
CHAPTER VI.
The Sen em i; of Evolution,
The Beginning.
IN harmony with the llonnctic axiom ''As above, so
below" and vice versa. Solar Systems are born, die
and come to birth anew in cycles of activity and rest,
as does man.
There is a constant flaming out and dying down of
activity in every department of nature, corresponding tc
the alternations of ebb and flow, day and night, summer
and winter, life and death.
In the beginning of a Day of Manifestation it is tjiught
that a certain Great Being (designated in the Western
World by the name of God, but by other names in other
parts of the earth) limits Himself to a certain portion
of space, in which He elects to create a Solar System
for the evolution of added self-consciousness. (See dia-
gram 6.)
He includes in His own Being hosts of glorious Hier-
archies of, to us, immeasurable spiritual power and splen-
dor. They are the fruitage of past manifestations of this
same Being and also other Intelligences, in descending
degrees of development down to such as have not readied
a stage of consciousness as high as our present humanity,
and therefore these latter will not he able to finish their
evolution in this System. In God — this great collective
18.*]
184 KOSICRUCIAX COSMO-COXCEPTION
Eeing — there are contained lesser beings of every grade of
intelligence and stage of consciousness, from omniscience
to an unconsciousness deeper tlian that of the deepest
trance condition.
During the period of manifestation with which we arc
concerned, these various grades of beings are working to
acquire iimro experience than they possessed at the begin-
ning of this period of existence. Those who, in previous
manifestations, have attained to the higliest degree of
development work on those who have not yet evolved any
consciousness. They induce in them a stage of self-con-
sciousness from whicli they can take up further work
tliemselves. Those who had started their evolution in a
former Day of Manifestation, but had not progressed far
at the close, noAv take up their task again, just as we take
up our daily work in the morning where we left oft* the
previous niglit.
All the different Beings, however, do not take np their
evolution at the early stages of a new manifestation. fSome
must wait until those wlio precede them have made the
conditicms whicli are necessary for their further develop-
ment. There are no instantaneous processes in nature.
All is an exceedingly slow unfolding, a development which,
though so exceedingly slow, is yet absolutely certain to
attain ultimate perfection. Just as there are progressive
stages in the human life — childhood, youth, manhood or
womanhood, and old age — so in the macrocosm there are
different stages corresponding to these various periods of
tlie mierocosmic life.
A child cannot take up the duties of fatherhood or
motherhood. Tts undcvrlopcd mental and physical con-
dition render it incapable of doing such work. The same
is true of the less evolved beings in the beginning of mani-
THE SCHEME OF EVOLUTION 186
festation. They must wait until the higher evolved have
made the proper eouditions for them. The lower the
g)-ade of the intelligence of the evolving being, the more
it is dependent upon outside help.
At the Beginning, then, the highest Beings — those who
are the farthest evolved — work upon those whu have the
greatest degree of unconsciousness. Later, the\ turn them
over to some of the less evolved entities, who are then
able to carry the work a little further. At last self-
consciousness is awakened. The evolving life has ije-
come Man.
From the point where the self-conscious individual Ego
has come into being he must go on and expand his con-
sciousness without outside helji. Experience and thought
are then to take the j^lace of outside teacheis and the
glory, power and splendor he may attain are limitless.
The i)eri<)d of time devoted to the attainment of self-
consciousness and to the building of the vehicles through
which the spirit in man manifests, is called " Involution. "
The subse(iuent period of existence, during which the
individual human being develops self-consciousness into
divine omniscience, is called ' ' Evolution. ' '
The Force within the evolving being which makes evo-
lution what it is and not a mere unfoldmcnt of latent ger-
minal possibilities ; which makes the evolution of each in-
dividual diffei' from that of every olher: which i)rovides
the element of originality and gives scope to the creative
ability which the evolving being is to cultivate that he
may become a (Jod-that Force is called 'Ticnius. " and.
as previously explained, its manifestation is''Epigenesi8. "
Many of the advanced philosophies of modem times
I'ccognize involution and evolution. Science recogni/os
only the latter, because it (Science) deals oidy with the
186 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Form side of manifestation. Involution belongs to the
Life side : but tlio most advanced soiontists regard Epi-
genesis as a demonstralile fact. Tlie TJosicrucian Cosmo-
Conception cnmbiiios all tlirco as nooossarv to full under-
standing of tbe past, present and future development of
tbe System to which we belong.
TlIK "\V01?LDS,
We might use a homc-ly instance to illustrate the build-
ing of a Cosmos. Suppose a man wants to establish a
hoiuo in which to live. He first selects a suitable location
and then j>roceeds to buil a house, dividing it into various
rooms to serve certain j irposes. He makes a kitchen,
dining-room, bedroouis ai... bathroom, and furnishes tiieui
all to suit the special purpose they are int-endcd to serve.
When (Jod desires to create, He seeks out an appropriate
place in space, which He fills with His aura, ])ormeating
every atom of the Cosmic Root-substance of that particular
jiortinn of space with His Life, thus awakening the activ-
ity latent within every //^separate atom.
This Cosmic Root-substance is an expression of the
negative pole of the Universal Spirit, while the great
Creative Being we call God (of Avhom we, as spirits, are
])art ) is an expression of the positive energy of the same
Universal Absolute Spirit. Frnui the work of one upon
the other, all that we see about us in the Physical World
has resulted. The oceans, the Earth, everything we see
manifesting as mineral, plant, animal and bunuin forms
— all are rrystnllizrd space, emanated from this negative
Spirit-substance, which alone existed at the dawn of Being.
As surely as the bard and llinty house of the snail is the
solidified juices of its soft body, so surely all forms are
crystallizations around the negative pole of Spirit.
THE SCHEME OF EVOLUTION 187
God draws from the Cosmic "Root-substance outside His
immediate spliere ; thus tlie substance within the nascent
cosmos becomes denser than it is in Universal space, be-
tween Solar Systems.
When God has thus prepared the material for His
Habitation, He next sets it in order. Every part of the
system is pervaded by His consciousness, but a different
modification of that consciousness in each part or divi-
sion. The Cosmic Root-sul)stance is set in varyinor rates
of vibration and is therefore differently constituted in its
various divisions, or retjions.
The al)ove is the manner in whicli the Worlds come into
being and are fitted to serve different purposes in the evo-
lutionary scheme,' the same as the various rooms in the
house are fitted to serve tlie purposes of everyday life in
tlie Pliysical World.
We have already seen tliat tliere are seven Worlds. These
Worlds have each a different '•measure*" and rate of vibra-
tion. In tlie densest World (tlie Physical) the measure of
vibration, though in the case of light-waves reaching a
rate of hunrlreds of millions jier second, is nevertheless in-
finitesimal when coni])iirod to the rapidity of the vibration
in the Desire World, which i> next to the Physical. To
get some conception of the meaning and rajudity of vilira-
tion, perhaps the easiest way is to watch the heat vil)rations
rising from a very Imt stove, or from a steam ra<liator
near a window.
It must be l)orne constantly in mind that those Worlds
are not separated by space or distance, as is the earth
from the other planets. They are states of matter, of vary-
ing density and vil)ratinn. ns are the solids. li(|ui<1s and
gases of our Physical World. 'I'licsc Worlds are not in-
stantaneouslv created at the l)e<:innine of a Dav of Mani-
188 ROSTCRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
festati(>n. nor do tliev hist until tlio ond ; Iml as a spider
spins its web thread by thread, so Clod dilTerentiatx's one
after another of the Worhls witliin Himself, as the neces-
sity arises for new conditions in the scheme of evolution
in which He is eni^aged. Tims liave all the seven Worlds
been gradually dilferentiated as tliey are at present.
The highest \\'orlds are created first, and as involution
is to slowly carry the life into denser and denser matter
for the building of forms, the finer Worlds gra<lually con-
dense and new Worlds are differentiated within God to
furnish the necessary links between Himself and the
Worlds which have consolidated. In due time the point
of greatest density, the nadir of materiality, is reached.
From that point the life begins to ascend into higher
Worlds, as evolution proceeds. That leaves the denser
Worlds depopulated, one by one. When the purpose has
been served for which a parti«ular World was created, God
ends its existence, which has become suj>erfluous, by ceas-
ing within Himself the particular activity which brought
into being and sustained that World.
The highest (finest, rarest, most ethereal) Worlds are
the first created and the last eliminated, while the three
densest Worlds, in which our present phase of evolution is
carried on, are but comparatively evanescent phenomena
incident to the spirit's dip into matter.
The Seven Periods.
The evolutionary scheme is carried through these five
Worlds in seven great Periods of Manifestation, during
■which the virgin spirit, or evolving life, becomes first,
man — then, a God.
At the lieginning of ^lanifestation God differentiates
within (not from) HinT^olf these virgin spirits, as sparks
THE SCHEME OF EVOLUTION 189
from a Flame, of tlie same nature, capal)le of being fanned
into Flames themselves. Evolution is the fanning process
which is to accomplish that end. In the virgin spirits are
enfolded all the possibilities of their Divine Father, in-
cluding the germ of independent Will, which makes them
capable of originating new ])hases, not latent in it. The
latent pombiJifles are transformed into dynamic powers
and available faculties during evolution, while the inde-
pendent Will institutes new and original departures — or
Epigenesis,
Prior to the beginning of the pilgrimage through mat-
ter the virgin spirit is in the World of Virgin Spirits, the
next to the highest of the seven Worlds. It has Divine
Consciousness, but itof .'^V/Z-consciousness. That, Soul-
power, and the Creative ^find. are faculties or powers
attained to bv evolution.
When the virgin spirit is immersed in the World of
Divine Spirit, it is blinded and rendered utterly uncon-
scious bv that matter. It is as oblivious to outside con'li-
tions as is man when in the deepest trance. This state
of unconsciousness jirevails during the first ])eriod.
In the Second Period it rises to the dreamless sleep
state; in the I'hiid Period is reaches the dream stage, and
in the middle of the F'ourth Period, at which we have now
arrived, the full waking consciousness of man is att-iiined.
This is a consciousness pertaining to only the lowest one
of the seven Worlds. During the reiuaining half of this
Period, and then entire three remaining Periods, man
must expand liis consciousness so as to iiulude all of the
six Worlds above this Physical Woild.
When man pass<'d through th(>se Worlds in bis descent
his energies were directed by higher Beings, who assisted
him to turn his unconscious energy ininml for the building
190
ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
of projier vehicles. At last, when he was far enough ad-
vanced and equipped with the threefold body as a necessary
instrument, these higher Beings "opened his eyes" and
turned his gaze outward upon the Chemical Region of the
Pliysical World, that his energies might conquer it.
When he has fitted himself by his work in the Chemical
Region, his next step in progress will be towards an ex-
pansion in consciousness that will include the Etheric
Region; then the Desire World, etc., etc.
In the Rosicrucian terminology, the names of the seven
Periods are as follows:
1. The Saturn Period.
2. The Sun Period.
3. The Moon Period.
4. The Earth Period.
5. The Jupiter Period.
6. The Venus Period.
7. The Vulcan Period.
These periods are suc-
cessive Rebirths of our
Earth.
It must not be thought that the above-mentioned Periods
have anvthing to do with the planets which move in their
orbits around the sun in company with the earth. In fact,
it cannot l)e too eiupliatically stated that tliere is no con-
nection wliatever between these planets and the Periods.
The Periods are simply past, present or future incarnations
of our Earth, "conditions" throuizh which it has passed,
is now passing, or will jiass in the future.
The three first mentioned Periods (the Saturn, Sun and
Moon Periods) have been passed through. We are now in
the fourth, or Earth Period. When this Earth Period of
our Globe has been completed, we and it shall pass in
turi' through the Jupiter, Venus and Vulcan conditions
bef te the great septenary Day of Manifestation comes to
THE SCHEME OF EVOLUTION 191
an end, when all that now is will once more be merged in
the Absolute for a period of rest and assimilation of the
fruits of our evolution, to re-emerge for furthi-r and higher
development at the dawn of another Great Day.
The three and one-half Pci-iods already behind us have
been sjient in gaining our present vehicles and conscious-
ness. The remaining throe and one-half Periods wil! ')e
devoted to perfecting these dill'cront vehicles and expanding
our consciousness into something akin to omniscience.
The journey made by the virgin spirit from unconscious-
ness to omniscience, unfolding its latent possi])ilities into
a kinetic energy, is a process of marvelous complexity and
only the roughest outline will at first l)e given. As we
progress in our present study, however, more details will be
filled in, until the picture is as complete as the Avriter is
capable of making it. The attention of the student is
called to the definition of terms that are given as new
ideas are being presented. He is earnestly importuned to
familiarize himself with them, as the intention is to sim-
plify the matter by using only one familiar English name
for the same idea throughout the work. The name will be
as descriptive as possible of the idea to be conveyed, in
hope that thereby much of the confusion arising from a
multiplex terminology may be avoided. By paying strict
attention to definition of terms, it should not be too diffi-
c\dt for any person of average intelligence to acquire a
knowledge of at least the outlines of the scheme of
evolution.
That such a knowledge is of the utmost importance will,
we think, be conceded by every intelligent individual. We
live in this world, governed by the laws of nature. Under
these laws we must live and work, and we are powerless
to change them. Tf we know them and intelligently c>>-
192 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
operate with them, these nature-forces become most valu-
ablo servants, e. g., electricity and the expansive force of
steam. If, on the other hand, we do not understand tliem
and in our iiinoiance work contrary to them, they become
most dau^izerous enemies, capable of terrible destruction.
Therefore, the more we know of the working methods of
nature, which latt<M- is but tlie visil)le sym])ol of the in-
visible (lod, the better able we shall 1)e to take advantajie
of the opportunities it offers fcr growth and power; for
enuincipatiou froiU bondage and for elevation to mastery.
CHAPTER VII.
The Path of Evolution.
AAVORI) of warning in regard to diagrams used for
purposes of illustration may not be out of place.
The student should remember that anything that is re-
duced into another dimension can never be accurate.
The pictuie of a house would mean little or nothing to
us if wo liad nevei' seen a house. In that case we would
see in the picture only lines and blotches. It would con-
vey no meaning to us. Diagrams used to illustrate su-
perphysical matters are much less true representations
of the reality, for the simple reason that in the case of
the picture, the three-dimensional house is only reduced
to two dimensions, while in the case of diagrams of the
Periods, Worlds and Globes, the realities possess from
four to seven dimensions, and the diagrams of
two dimensions ])y which it is endeavored to
represent them are thus so much further removed from
the i)ossil)ility of correctly portraying them. We must
constantly bear in mind that these Worlds inter-pene-
trate; that the (llobes inter-penetrate, and that the way
they are shown in the diagram is analogous to taking all
the wheels of a watch and lajing them side by side in
order to show how the watch keeps time. If these dia-
grams are to be of any use to the student they must be
spiritually conceived. Otherwise they will be confus-
ing instead of enlightening.
194
THE PATH OF EVOLUTION 105
Revolutions and Cosmic Nights.
The Saturn Period is the first of the seven Periods, and
at this early stage the virgin spirits take their first step
towards the evohition of Consciousness and Form. By
reference to diagram 7 it will be seen that the evolutionary
impulse travels seven times around the seven Globes, A, B,
C, D, E, F and G, the arrows showing the direction.
First, a part of tlie evolution is accomplished on Globe
A, situated in the World of Divine Spirit, the rarest of the
five Worlds which form our field of evolution. Then,
gradually the evolving life is transferred to Glol)e B. which
is located in the somewhat denser World of Life Spirit.
Here another stage of evolution is passed through. ' In due
time the evolving life is rcjidy to enter the arena on Globe
C, which is situated in and formed of the yet denser sub-
stance of the Region of Abstract Thought. After learning
the lessons peculiar to that stage of existence, the life
wave travels onward to Globe D, which is located in and
formed of the substance of the Region of Concrete Thought.
This is the densest degree of matter reached by the life
wave during the Saturn Period.
From this point the life wave is carried upward again
to Globe E, which is situated in the Region of Abstract
Thought, as is Globe C, yet tiie conditions are not the same
as on Globe C. This is the Involutionary stage, and the
substance of the Worlds is getting denser all the time.
The tendency in everything is to become denser and more
solid as time goes on ; also, as the path of evolution is a
spiral, it will be clear that, though the same points are
gone over, the conditions are never the same, but are
on a higher and more advanced plane.
When the work on Glol)e E has been completed, the
196 EOSKRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
iH'xt step i? taken on Globe F, wliicli is situated in tli<!
World of Life Spirit, the same as Globe B; thence it
mounts to Globe G. When the work there is done, the
life wave has traveled once around all the seven Globes;
ince down and up through the four respective Worlds.
I'liis journey of tlic life wave is called a Revolution, and
seven Revolutions make one Period. During one Period
the life wave travels seven times down and up through the
four Worlds.
When the life wave has traveled its full cninplenK'nt of
seven times around the seven Globes, com]ileting the seven
Revolutions, the first Day of Creation closes and there fol-
lows a Cosmic Night of rest and assimilation, after which
the Sun Period dawns.
Like the night of sleep between two days of human life
and the interval of rest between two earth lives, this Cosmic
Xight of rest after the ei^npletion of the Saturn Pei-iod
is not a time of passive repose, but a season ol' preparation
for the activity to be unfolded in the coming Sun Period,
where nian-in-the-making is to take a further dip into
matter. Therefore, new Globes are necessary, the positions
of which in the seven Worlds are different from those occu-
])ied by the Worlds of the Satui'n Period. The providing
of these new Glolies, and other subjective activities, occupy
the evolving spirits during the interval between Periods —
the Cosmic Niglit. The manner of procedure is as follows:
When the life wave has left Glol)e A in the Saturn
Period for the last time, the Globe liegins to slowly disin-
tegrate. The forces which built it are transferred from
the World of Divine Spirit (where Globe A is located
during the Saturn Period) to the World of Life Spirit
(where Globe A is located during the Sun Period). This
is shown on diagram 8.
or <Mu««^
firfirt'iffr
1 S o I * '^^ '*
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14^ jj. o
&"
M
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•O
H
r*
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j[j)8 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
When the life wave has left Globe B in the Saturn
Period for the last time, it also commences to disintegrate,
and the forces thereof, like the seed-atom of a human
vehicle, are used as a nucleus for Globe B in the Sun
Period, this Globe being then located in the Eegion of
A])stract Thought.
In like manner tlie forces of Globe C are transferred
to tlie Eegion of Concrete Thought and draw upon the
substance of that Eegion for the material wherewitli to
buihl a new Globe C for the coming Sun Period. Globe D
is similarly transmuted and placed in the Desire World.
Globes E, F and G, in order named, are analogously trans-
ferred. The result is (as reference to diagram 8 will show)
th;it in the Sun Period all tlie Globes are located one step
further down into denser matter than they were in the
Saturn Period, so that the life wave, upon its emergence
from the Cosmic Xight of Eest intervening between the
last activity on Globe G of the Saturn Period and the
"enewed activity on Globe A of the Sun Period finds a new
environment, with the opportunity thus afforded for new
experiences.
The life wave now circles seven times around the seven
Globes during the Sun Period, traversing seven times down
and up the four Worlds or Eegions in which tliese Globes
are located. It makes seven Eevolutions in the Sun Period,
as it (lid in tlie Saturn Period.
When the life wave leaves Glolje A in the Sun Period
for the last time, that Glol:)e begins to disintegrate. Its
forces are transferred to the denser Eegion of Abstract
Thought, where they form a planet to be used during the
;Moon Period. In the same way, the forces of the other
Globes are transferred and serve as nuclei for the Globes
of the Moon Period, as shown in diagram S, the proces-'^
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION 199
being exactly the same as when the Globes were removed
from their locations in the Saturn Period to the posi-
tions they occui)ied during the Sun Period. Thus the
Globes of the ^loon Period are placed one step further
down in matter than they were during the Sun Period,
the lowest (Globe D) being situated in the Etherie Re-
gion of the Physical World.
After the interim of Cosmic Night between the Sun
Period and the Moon Period, the life wave starts its
course on Globe A of the latter, completing in due time
its seven Revolutions, as before. Then there is another
("osmie Night, during which the (}lol)es are again ti-ans-
fcrred one step further down, and this time the den.sest
Globe is located in the Chemical Region of the Physical
World, as reference to diagram 8 will show.
This, then, is the Earth Period and the lowest and
densest Globe (Globe D) is our present Earth.
The life wave here, as usual, started on Globe A, af-
ter the Cosmic Night succeeding the Moon Period. In
the present Earth Period it has circled three times
around the seven Globes and is now on Globe 0, in its
fourth Revolution.
Here on earth and in this present fourth Revolution,
the greatest density of matter — the nadir of materiality
— was reached a few millions of years ago. The tenden-
cy henceforth will be upward into rarer substance. Dur-
ing the three and one-half Revolutions which remain to
complete this Period, the condition of the Earth will
gradually become more and more ethereal, and in the
next— the Jupiter Period— Globe D will again be loca-
ted in the Etherie Region, as it was in the ]^[oon Period.
the other Globes being also elevated correspondingly.
In the Venus Period they will be located in the same
200 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Worlds as were the Globes of the Sun Period. The Globes
of tlie A'ulean Period will have the same density and be
located in the same Worlds as were the Globes of the
Saturn Period. This is all shown on diagram 8.
When the life wave has completed its work in the Earth
Period and the Cosmic Xight which follows js past, it will
go through its seven Revolutions on the Globes of the
Jupiter Period. Then will come the usual Cosmic Night,
with its subjective activities; after which the seven Revolu-
tions of the Venus Period ; then another rest, succei'dod
bv the last of the Periods of the present scheme of evolu-
tion — the Vulcan Period. The life wave also makes its
seven Revolutions here, and at the end of the last Revo-
lution all the Gloljes are dissolved and the life wave is
reabsorbed by God, for a period of time equal in duration
to that occupied by all of the seven Periods of activity.
God Himself tlicn merges into the Al)solute during the
Universal Xight of assimilation and ])i'eparation for an-
other Great Day.
Other and grander evolutions will then follow, but we
can deal only with the seven Periods described.
I
CHAPTER VIII.
The Work of Evolution.
Ariadne's Thread.
HAVING become acquainted with the Worlds, the
Globes and the devolutions which constitute the
path of evolution during the seven Periods, we are
now in a position to consider the work which is done in
each Period, as well as the methods employed to accom-
plish it.
The "Ariadne's thread" which will guide us through
the maze of Glolics, Worlds, Revolutions and Periods will
be found when it is rememlM?red and kept steadily m mind
tliat the virgin spirits which constitute the evolving life
wave became entirely tincans<ious when they commenced
their evolutionary pilgrimage through the five Worlds of
substance denser than the World of Virgin Spirits. The
purpose of evolution l)eing to make theiu fully conscious
and able to master the matter of all the Worlds, thorelore
the conditions embodied in Globes, Worlds, Revolutions and
Periods arc ordered with that end in view.
During the Saturn, Sun and Moon Periods and the
past half of the present Earth Period, tlie virgin spirits
Jiave unconsciously built their difToreiit vehicles under the
direction of exalted Beings who guidod their progress, and
have gradually awakened until they have attained the
present state of waking consciousness. This period is
called "Involution."
From the present time to the end of the Vulcan Period,
201
S02 ROSICRUCIAX COSMO-CON'CEPTIOIS
the virgin spirits, wlio arc now our lauiianily, will i)erfect
tlieir vehicles and expand their consciousness in the five
Worlds hy their own efforts and genius. This period is
called "'iMolution.''
The ahove is the key to the understanding of what
iollows.
A thorough comprehension c.f the scheme of planetary
evolution which has been outlined in the preceding pages is
of immense value to the student. Although some believers
i - the laws of Consequence and Eebirth seem to think
that the possession of such knowledge is quite non-essential
and of little use, it is nevertheless of very great impor-
tance to the earnest student of these two laws. It trains
the mind in abstract thought and elevates it above the
sordid things of concrete existence, helping the imagina-
tion to soar beyond the hampering toils of self-interest.
As stated in our study of the Desire World, Interest is the
mainspring to action, yet, at our present stage of progress,
Interest is generally aroused by selfishness. It is some-
times of a verv subtle nature, but it spurs to action of
various kinds. All action inspired by Interest generates
certain effects which act on us, and in consequence we are
bound by action having to do with the concrete Worlds.
But, if our minds are occupied with such subjects a?
mathematics or study of the planetary phases of evolution
we are in the Region of purely Abstract Thought, beyond
the influence of Feeling, and the mind is directed upward
towards the spiritual realms and liberation. When we are
extracting cube root, or multiplying figures, or thinking of
PeriodiH, Revolutions, etc., we have no Feeling about it.
We do not quarrel about twice two being four. If our
feelings were involved Me should perhaps try to make it
five and c^arr^l with the one Avho, for personal reasons.
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION 203
said it was but three, but in niatheniatic? Truth is most
clearly apparent and Feeling is eliminated. Therefore, to
the average man, desiring to live in the feelings, mathe-
matics is dry and uninteresting. Pythagoras taught his
pupils to live in the World of Eternal Spirit and he de-
manded that those who Jesired instruction from him should
first study mathematics. A mind capal)le of untlerstanding
mathematics is above the average and is capable of rising
into the World of Spirit, because it is not fettered in the
World of Feeling and Desire. The more we accustom our-
selves to think in terms of the Spiritual Worlds, the better
we shall be able to rise above the illusions which surround
us in this concrete existence, where the twin feelings, In-
terest and Indiiference, obscure the Truth and bias us, as
the refraction of the light rays through the p]arth's atmos-
phere gives us incorrect ideas of the position of the lumi-
nary emitting them.
Therefore the student who wishes to know Truth ; to
enter and investigate the realms of Spirit; to free himself
from the toils of the fiesh, as rapidly a^ is consistent with
safety and proper growth, is earnestly advised to stud^
whftt follows as thoroughly as possible; to assimilate it and
draw mental conceptions of these Worlds, Gloljes and
Periods. If he wishes to progress in this way, the study
of mathematics and of Hintr)n's "The Fourth Dimension''
are also admirable exercises in abstract thought. This
work of Hinton's (though basically incorrect. l)ecause the
four-dimensional Desire World cannot l^ actually found by
three-dimensional metJiods), has opened the eyes of several
persons who have studied it. and made them claiiToyant.
^roreover, remembering that logic is the best teacher in any
world, it is certain tliat the individual who succeeds in
entering into the superphysical World by means of such
J.04 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Indies in abstract thought, will not become confused, but
will be able to give a good account of himself under all
>ircumstances.
A stupendous sclieme is here unfolded, and as more and
more detail is filled in^ its complexity becomes almost in-
conceivable. . Anyone capable of comprehending it Avill be
well rewarded for taking the utmost pains to do so. Tliere-
fore, the student should read slowly, repeat often, think
deeply and much.
This book, particularly this chapter, cannot be read in a
casual manner. Every sentence has weight and bearing
upon what follows, and presupposes a knowledge of what
precedes it. If the book is not studied thoroughly and sys-
tematically, it will grow more and more incompreliensil)le
and confusing with every page. On the other hand, if it
is studied and well thought out as the student proceeds,
it will be found that each page is illuminated by the in-
creased knowledge gained by study of what went before.
No work of this kind, 'dealing with the deepest phases of
the Great World ]\Iystery that the human mind, at its*
present stage of development, is capable of grasping, cac»
be written in such a manner that it will be light reading.
Yet the deepest phases now comprehensible to us are but
the A B C of the scheme as it will l)e revealed to us when
our minds have become eaj^able of understanding more, iR
later stages of our development as Suj^ermen.
The Satukx Period.
The Globes of the Saturn Period consisted of much rarer
and finer substance than our Earth, as will be evident from
a study of diagrams 7 and 8, which the student is advised to
keep close at hand for frequent reference while studying
this subject. The densest Globe of that Period was located
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION 205
in the same portion of the World of Th()U«;ht oofiipiod
by the rarest Globes of the present Period — the Region
of Concrete Thoiij^ht. These Globes had no consistency
such as we can sense. "Warmth" is the only word that
approximates the idea of the ancient Saturn Period. It
was dark ; and if a person could have entered into the
space it occupied, he would have seen nothing;. All
about him would have been darkness, but he would have
felt its warmth.
To the materialist it will, of course, seem insanity to
call such a condition a "Globe." and to assert that it
was the field of evolution of Form and Life. Yet, when
we consider the Nebular Theory, we can realize that the
nebula must have been dark before it jjlowed with liijht.
and that it must have been hot l)efore it could Ijccome
fiery. This heat must have been broufjht al)out by mo-
tion, and motion is life.
We may say that the virgin si)irits who were to evolve
consciousness and form were embedded in this Globe, or
perhaps better, that the whole Globe was composed of
virgin spirits, as a raspberry is made of a great number
of small raspberries. They were incorporated in the
Globe, as the life ensouling the mineral is in our Earth.
Therefore it is said among occult scientists that in the
Saturn Period man went through the mineral stage.
Outside this "warmth-Glolje" — in its atmosphere, we
might say — were the great creative Hierarchies, who
were to help the evolving virgin spirits to develop form
and consciousness. There were many Hierarchies, but
for the present we shall concern ourselves with the
principle ones only — those which did the most import-
ant work of the Saturn Period.
Tn "Rosicrucinn terms these are called "Lords of
the Flame," because of the brilliant luminosity of their
206 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
bodies and their <,a-eat spiritual powers. They are called
"Thrones" in tlie Bible, and worked on man of their own
free will. They were so far advanced tliat this evolutionary
manifestation could give them no new experiences, and
therefore no added wisdom, and the same may lie said of
two still hif,dier order of Hierarchies, to 1^ named later.
The rest of the creative Hierarchies, in order to complete
their own evolution, were compelled to work on, in and
with man.
These Lords of the Flame were outside the dark Saturn
Globe and their bodies emitted a strong light. They, so to
say, projected their pictures upon the surface of that
ancient Saturn Globe, which was so unimpressionable that
it reflected, in a multiple or echo-like manner, everything
that came in contact witli it. giving back the images mani-
folded. (This is told in the Greek myth wherein it is said
that Saturn destroyed his children.)
However, by repeated etTorts during the first Eevolution,
the Lords of the Flame succeeded in implanting in the
evolving life the germ which has developed our present
dense body. This germ was soniewluit developed during the
remainder of the first six Eevolutions, being given the
capacity for developing the sense organs, particularly the
ear. Therefore, the ear is the most highly developed organ
we possess. It is the instrument which carries with the
greatest accuracy the impressions of outside conditions to
the consciousnese. It is less subject to the illusions of the
Physical World than the other sense organs.
The consciousness of the evolving life of that Period
was like that of the mineral of today — a state of uncon-
sciousness similar to that attained by mediums in the
deepest trance — yet during the first six Revolutions, the
evolving life veorked on the germ of the dense body under
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION 207
the direction and with the help of the different creative
Hierarchies. In the middle of the seventh Revolution tlie
Lords of the Flame, Who had been inactive since They
gave the germ of the dense body in the first Revolution,
again became active, this time to awaken the highest spir-
itual principle. They aroused the initial activity of the
divine spirit in man.
Thus, man owes his highest and lowest vehicles — the di-
vine spirit and the dense body to the evolution of the
Saturn Period. These, the Lords of the Flame of their own
free will helped him to manifest, not being under the
slightest compulsion to do so.
The work of the various creative Hierarchies is not
started on Glol)e A, at the commencement of a Period
or a Revolution. It commences in the middle of one
Revolution, growing in strength and reaching its highest
efficiency in the middle of the Cosmic Xight — which is
between Revolutions, as well as between Periods. Then
it gradually declines, as the life wave sweeps on to the
middle of the next Revolution.
Thus the work of the Lord*? of the Flame in awakening
the germinal consciousness, was most active and efficient
during the rest Period between the Saturn and Sun
Pi'iiods.
We reiterate that a Cosmic Xight is not to be regarded
as a time of inactivity. It is not inert existence, as we
saw in tlic case of the individual passing from death to a
n<'w biitli. So with the great death of all the Globes of a
Period. It is a cessation of active manifestation, that a
proportionately keener subjective activity nuiy l)e unfolded.
Perhaps the l)est idea of tlu> i*iture of this subjective
activity may lx> gained by observing what hapj^ens when
a rim fruit is buried in the ground. Fermentation and
208 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEfTION
decay of the flesh sets in, but out of that chaos comes the
new plant, sprouting I'orth into tlie air and sunshine.
So. when a Period is past, all is resolved into conglomerate
ciiaos, apparently inca])able of being reduced to order.
At the proper time, however, the Globes of a new Period .
are formed and made ready for occu))ancy as man-])earing
Worlds. Hither the evolving life is transferred from five
dark Globes which it traverses during the Cosmic Xight,
to commence the activities of a new creative day in an
altered environment, prepared and externalized during the
activities of the Cosmic Xight. As the forces of fer-
mentation in tlie fruit stimulate the seed and fertilize the
soil in which it grows, so the Lords of the Flame stimu-
lated the germ of divine spirit, particularly during the
Cosmic Xight between the Saturn and the Sun Periods,
continuing their activities until the middle of the first
Eevolution of the Sun Period.
EECAriTULATIOX.
Before the activity in any Pei'iod can l)e started, there
is a recapitulation of all that lias been gone through
before. Owing to the spiral path of evolution, tliis activity
takes place each time on a higher scale than the stage in
progression which it rehearses. The necessity will become
apparent when the actual work in recapitulation is de-
scribed.
The first Eevolution of any Period is a recapitulation
of the work u]X)n the dense liody in the Saturn Period,
and is spoken of among Eosicrucians as the "Saturn
Eevolution."
The Second Period is the Sun Period, and therefore
the second Eevolution of any Period subsequent to the
Sun Period would be the "Sun Eevolution."
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION 209
The third Period is the Moon Period, therefore the third
l?evolution of any subsequent Period would be a recapitu-
lation of the work done in the Moon Period, and is called
the "Moon Eevolution."
Xot until after the recapitulatoiT Pevolutions does the
proper work of a Period begin. For instance, in the
present Earth Period, we have passed through three and
one-half Revolutions. That means that in the first, or
Saturn Revolution of the Earth Period, the work done
in the Saturn Period was repeated, but on an advanced
scale. In the second, or Sun Revolution, the work of the
Sun Period was gone through again. In the third, or
^loon Revolution, the work of the ^foon Period was re-
peated ; and it was only in the fourth — the present Revo-
lution — that the real work of the Earth Period commenced.
Tn the last of the seven Periods — the Vulcan Period —
only the last Revolution will be concerned with real Vul-
can work. In the preceding six Revolutions the work of
the preceding six Periods will have been recapitulated.
Moreover (and this will particularly help the student
to rememl)er), a Saturn Revolution in any Period has
always to do with the development of some new feature of
the dense body, because that was started in a first Revo-
lution ; and anij seventh, or Vulcan Revolution, has for
its particular work some activity in connection with the
divine spirit, because that was started in a seventh Revo-
lution. In the same way. wo shall see that there is a con-
nection between the different Revolutions and ;ill the
vehicles of man.
The Srx Pr.iaoD.
Tonditions during the Sun P<>riod differed radically
from those of the Saturn Period. Instead of the "warmth-
210 ROSICRUCIAX COSMO-CONCEPTIOJJ
Globes'' of the latter^ the Sun Period Globes were glowing
light-balls, of the consistency of gas. Tliese great gas-
balls contained all that had been evolved in the Saturn
Period, and similarly, in the atmosphere were the creative
Hierarchies.
Instead of the echo-like, reflecting quality of the Sat-
urn Period, these Globes, to some extent, had the quality
of absorbing and working over any sight or sound pro-
jected against their surfaces. They, as it were, "sensed"
things. The Earth does not seem to do this, and a ma-
terialist would scoff at the idea, yet the occultist knows
that the Earth feels everything on and in it. This lighter
Globe was much more sensitive than the Earth, liecause
it was not limited and bound in such hard and fast con-
ditions of materiality as is our present habitat.
The life, of course, was different, l)ecause no forms such
as we know could have existed there. But life can express
itself in forms of fiery gas as well as — in fact better
than — in forms of hard chemical matter such as the
present dense forms of mineral, ])lant, animal and man.
As the evolving life appeared upon Globe A in the first
or Saturn Kevolution of the Sun Period, it was still in
charge of the Lords of the Flame who, in the middle of
the last Revolution of the Saturn Period, awakened in
man the germ of the divine spirit.
They had previously given the germ of the dense body
and, in the first half of the Saturn Revolution of the Sun
Period, were concerned with certain improveanents to be
made upon it.
In the Sun Period the formation of tlie vital body was
to be commenced, with all there))y implied of capability
for assimilation, growth, propagation, glands, etc.
The Lords of the Flame incorporated in the germ of
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION -^H
the dense body only the capability oi evolving ?en.>e organs.
At the time now under consideration it became necessary
to change the germ in .-uch a way as to all<nv of inter-
penetration by a vital body, also capability of evolving
glands and an alimentary canal. This was done by th."
joint action of the Lords of the Flame, who gave the
original germ, and the Lords of Wisdom, who took charge
of material evolution in the Sun Period.
The Lords of Wisdom, who were not so highly evolved
as the Lords of the Flame, worked to complete their own
evolution; therefore they received the assistance of an
order of exalted Beings who, like the Lords of the i^'lame,
acted of their own free will. In esoteric parlance they are
called tiie Cherubim. These exalted Beings did not, ho\v»
ever, become active in the work until it was necessary to
awaken the germ of the second spiritual ])rinciple of our
man-in-the-making, as the Lords of Wisdom were quite
capable of doing the work connected with the vital body
which vas to l)e added to the constitution of man in the
Sun Period, but not of awakening the second spiritual
principle.
When the Lords of the Flame and the Lords of Wisdom
had, in the Saturn Pevolution of the Sun Period, con-
jointly reconstructed the germinal dense body, the Lords
of Wisdom, in the second Kevolution, started the pro]>er
work of the Sun Period, by radiating from their own
bodies the germ of the vital body, making it capable of
inter-penetrating the dense body and giving to the germ
the capability of furthering growth and propagation and
of exciting the sense centers of the dense l)ody and causing
it to move. In short, they gave, germinally, to the vita!
body all the faculties which it is now unfolding \>, ueeoin*
a perfect and pliable instrument for the use of the Bpini.
213 ROSICRUCIAX COSMO-CONCEPTION
This work occupied the second, tliird, fourth and fifth
Re\olutions of the Sun Period. In the sixth Revolution
the Cheruhim entered and awakened the germ of the
second aspect of the threefold spirit in man — the life-
spirit. In the seventh and last Revolution the newly
awakened germ of the life spirit was linked to the ger-
minal divine spirit, and this was still further worked
vipon.
We rememljer that in the Saturn Period our conscious-
ness was similar to the trance condition. By the activity
of the Sun Period this was modified until it became like
ihe consciousness of dreamless sleep.
Evolution in the Sun Period added to the constitution
of the evolving embryonic man, the next highest and the
next lowest of his present vehicles. As the result of the
Saturn Period he possessed a germinal dense body and
divine spirit. At the end of the Sun Period he possessed
a germinal dense body, vital body, divine spirit and life
spirit, i. e., a twofold spirit and a twofold body.
We also note that, as the first, or Saturn Revolution, of
any Period is concerned with work in the dense body
(because that was started in a first Revolution), so the
second, or Sun Revolution, of any Period is concerned
with iiuprovetnents on tliL' vital body, l)ecause it was
started in a second Revolution. In like manner, the sixth
Revolution of any Period is dedicated to some work on
the life spirit, and any seventh Revolution is particularly
concerned with matters connected with the divine spirit.
In the Saturn Period man-in-the-making went through
a mineral stage of existence. That is to say. ho had a
dense body only in the sense as had the mineral. His
consciousness was also similar to that of the present
mineral.
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION 213
Tn the same way, and for analof;ous reasons, it maybe
said that in the Sun Period man went thi-oui^h the plant
existence. He had a dense Ixidy and a vital body, as
plants have, and his eonseiousness. like theii's. was that
of dreamless sleep. The student will fully jji-asj) this
analogy by referring to diagram 4 in the ehaptei- on the
four kingdoms, where the vehicles of eoixseiousness pos-
sessed by mineral, plant, animal and man are schema-
tically shown, with the particular consciousness result-
ing from their possession in each case.
When the Sun Period was past there came another
Cosmic Night of assimilation, together with the sub-
jective activity necessai'y before the opening of the
Moon Period. This was e(jual in length to the ])reced-
ing Period of objective manifestation.
The Moon Period.
As the chief characteristic feature of the dark Sa-
turn Globes wem described by the term ''warmth.'' and
that of the Sun period Globes as *' light." or glowing
heat, so the chief characteristic feature of the Globes
of the Moon Period may be best described by the tenn
"moisture." There was no air such as we know. In
the center was the hot fiery core. Next to that, and con-
seciuciit upon contact with the cold of outsidi^ space,
there was dense moisture. By contact with the liery
central core the dense moisture was changed into hot
steam, which rushed outward to cool, and siiik again
towai'd the center. Therefore the occult scientist calls
the Globes of the Moon Period "water." and describes
the atmosphere of that time as "fire-fog." That was
the scene of the next forwaid stej) of the evolving life.
The Moon Period work was that of acquiring the
214 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
genu of a dcsiie body and starting the germinal activity
of the tliird aspect of the thi-eefokl spirit in man — the
human sjnrit — the Ego.
Ill the iiiiddk' of the seventh Revolution of the Sun
Period, the Lords of Wisdom took charge of the germin-
al life spirit given by the Cherubim in the sixth Revolu-
tion of the Sun Period. They did this for the purpose of
linking it to the divine spirit. Their greatest activity in
this work was reached in the Cosmic Night intervening
between the Sun and the Moon Periods. In the first
dawn of the ]\Ioon Period, as the life wave started upon
its new pilgrimage, the Lords of Wisdom reappeared,
bearing with them the germinal vehicles of the evolving
man. In the first, or Saturn Revolution of the Moon
Period, they co-operated with the "Lords of Individu-
ality," who had s])ocial charge of the material evolution
of the Moon Period. Together they reconstructed the
germ of the dense body, brought over from the Sun Per-
iod, This germ had unfolded embryonic sense organs,
digestive organs, glands, etc., and was inter-penetrated
by a budding vital body which diffused a certain degree
of life into the embryonic dense body. Of course, it was
not solid and visil)le as it is now, yet in a crude sort of
way it was somewhat organized and is perfectly distin-
guishalile to the trained clairvoyant sight of the com-
petent investigator who searches the memory of nature
for scenes in that far-off past.
In the Moon Period it Avas necessary to reconstruct
the dense body to make it capal)le of being inter-pene-
trated by a desire body, and also capable of evolving a
nervous system, muscle, cartilage and a rudimentary
skeleton. This reconstruction was the work of the Sa-
turn Revolution of the Moon Period.
In the second, or Sun Revolution, the vital body was
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION 315
also modified to rendiT it capable of Ijeing inter-penetrated
by a desire body, also of acconunodating itself to the nerv-
ous system, muscle, skeleton, etc. The Lords of Wisdom,
who were the originators of the vital body, also helped the
Lords of Individuality with this work.
In tlie third Kevolution the proper ^Moon work com-
menced. The Lords of Individuality radiated from them-
selves tlie substance which they heljx^d the unconscious,
evolving man to appropriate and build into a germinal de-
sire body. They also helped him to incorporate this germ-
inal desire body in the compound vital body and dense
body which he already possessed. This work was carried
on all through the third and fourth Revolutions of the
Moon Period.
As with the Lords of Wisdom, so with the Lords of
Individuality: though exalted far above man, they worked
on and in him to complete their own evolution. While
they were capable of dealing with the lower vehicle, they
were powerless in regard to the higher. They could not
give the spiritual impulse necessary to the awakening of
the third aspect of tlie threefold spirit in man. Therefore
another class of Beings who were beyond the necessity of
evolving in such an evolution as we are passing through —
who also worked of their own free will, as did the Lords
of the Flame and the Cherubim — came in during the
fifth Eevolution of the ^foon Period, to help man. They
are called "Seraphim." They awakened the germ of the
third aspect of the spirit — the human spirit.
In the sixth Pevolution of the "Moon Period the CIk r\]
bim reappeared and co-operatod with the Lords of Indi-
viduality to link the newly acquired ojerm of the human
spirit to the life spirit.
In the seventh Revolution of the ^loon Period the Lords
216 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
of the Flame again came to the aid of man, helping the
Lords of Individuality to link the human spirit to the
divine spirit. Thus tlie separate Ego — the threefold spirit
— eaiue into existence.
Before the beginning of the Saturn Period the virgin
spirits who are now man, were in the World of Virgin
Spirits, and were "All-eonscious" as God in whom (not
from whom), they were differentiated. They were not
''self" conscious however. The attainment of that faculty
is partly the object of evolution which plunges the virgin
:5pirits into a sea of matter of gradually increasing density
which eventually shuts it from the All-consciousness.
Thus, in the Saturn Period the virgin spirits were im-
mersed in the World of Divine Spirit and encased in the
tiniest film of that substance which they partially pene-
trated by the help of the Lords of Flame.
In the Sun Period the virgin spirit was plunged into the
denser World of Life Spirit and more effectively blinded to
the All-consciousness by a second veil of the substance of
the World of Life Spirit. Still, by the help of the Cheru-
bim it partially penetrated this second veil also. The
feeling of the Oneness of All was not lost either, for the
World of Life Spirit is still a universal World commnu
to and inter-penetrating all the planets of a Solar System.
In the Moon Period, however, the virgin spirits take a
further dip into the still denser matter of the Region of
Abstract Thought and here the most opaque of its veils,
the human spirit, is added. Henceforth the All-conscious-
ness of the virgin spirit is lost. It can no longer penetrate
its veils, look outwards and perceive others, so it is forced
to turn its consciousness inwards and there it finds its self,
as the Ego, separated and apart from all others.
Thus the virgin spirit is encased in a threefold veil, and
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION 21'«
as its outermost veil, the huiiiaii si)ii'it, effectively blinds
it to the oneness of Life, it becomes the Ejro by enter-
taining; the illusion of sepai-ateness contracted during
involution. Evolution will gradually dissolve the illu-
sion, bring back the All-consciousness, and Self-con-
sciousness will have been addetl.
Thus we see that at the close of the Moon Period man
possessed a threefold l)ody in vai-ying stages of dcvcloj)-
ment ; and also the germ of the thi'ccfold spirit. He liad
dense, vital, and desire bodies, and divine, life and hu-
man si)irit. All he lacked was the link to connect them.
It has been stated that man passed through the min-
eral stage in the Saturn Pci'iod ; thi-ough the ])laiit stage
in the Sun Period, and his pilgrimage thi-ough the con-
ditions of the Moon Pei'iod corresponds to the phase of
animal existence, for the same reason that llic two otiier
similes are applicable — he had the den.se. vital, and de-
sii-e bodies, as have our present animals, and his con-
sciousness was an internal picture-consciousness, such
as the lower animals have today. This resembles the
dream consciousness of man. save that it is perfectly ra-
tional, being directed by the group-.si)irit of the animals.
The student .is again referred to diagram 4 in the chai>-
ter on the four kingdoms, where this is shown.
These Moon beings were not so pui-ely germinal as in
the previous Periods. To the trained clairvoyant they
appear su.spended by strings in the atmosphei-e of the
fire-fog, as the end)ryo hangs fi-om tlic placenta by the
umbilical cord. Currents (common to all of them^,
which provided some sort of nourishment, flowed in
and o\it from the atmosphere thi-ough those cords.
These currents were thus, to some extent, similar in
their function to the blood of the i)resent «lay.
The name "blood" as applied to these currents, how-
218 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
ovor. is used moroly to siijz^'est an analogy, because the
Beinjrs of tho Moon PcM-iod possessed nothing like our
present rvi\ hlond. whidi is one of the very hitest ac-
(juisitions of man.
Towards tho end of the .Moon Period there was a div-
ision of the Globe which was the field of our and other
evolutions, which, for the sake of gjreater simplicity, we
have not heretofore mentioned, but with which we shall
presently become acquainted.
Part of that j^reat Globe was so ci-ystallized by man
on account of his inability to keep the part which he in-
habited in the high state of vil)ration maintained by the
other beings there, and as this part became more inert
• the centrifugal force of the revolving Globe sent it spin-
ning into space, where it began to circle around the
glowing fiery central portion.
The spiritual reason for the throwing oft' of such crys-
tallizations is that the highest beings on such a Globe
reciuii'e for their evolution the exceedingly rapid vi-
brations of fire. They are hampered by condensa-
tion, although such a condition is nesessary to the evo-
lution of other and less advanced beings requiring low-
er rates of vibration. Therefore, when part of any
Globe has been consolidated by a group of evolving be-
ings to the detriment of others, that part is thrown
off to exactly the proper distance from the central mass,
so that it circles as a satellite around its primary. The
hiat \il)rations which strike it are of the rate and
strength suital)]e to the ])eeuliar needs of the beings
evolving upon that satellite. Of course the law of gravi-
tation accounts quite satisfactorily for the phenomenon
from a pliysiail viewpoint. But there is always a deep-
er cause, that yields a more complete explanation and
which we will tind if we consider the spiritual side of
THE WORK OF KVOLl'TION 219
things. As a physical action is but tlie visible manifestation
of the invisible thought which must ])ivtode it, so is the
throwinp^ off of a planet from a central Sun simply the
visible and unavoidable effect of invisible spiritual
conditions.
The smaller planet which was thrown off in the Moon
Period, condensed with cdmjjarative rapitlity and remained
the field of our evolution until the end of that Period.
It was a moon to the ])arent ])hinet. circling around it as
our Moon circles around the Earth, but it did not show
phases as our ^loon does. It revolved in such a manner
that one-half was always light and the other always dark,
as is the case with A'enus. One of its poles was pointed
directly towards the large fiery (ilolie, as one of the poles
of Venus points directly towards the ^un.
On this satellite of the Aloon Period there were currents
which encircled it, as the group-spirit currents encircle the
Earth. "^I'lie Moon Ix-ings fallowed those currents instinct-
ively from the light to the dark side of this old AFoon. At
certain times of the year, when they were on the light side,
a sort of j)roj)agation took -place. We have the atavistic
residue of those moon-travels for projiagation in the migra-
tions of the birds of passage which, to the present day,
follow the grouji-spirit currents aiound the Karth at cer-
tain seasons of the year, for idcMitical purposes. Even the
(honey) moon tri)>s of huniau beings show that man him-
self has not yet outgrown the migratory inijnilse in connec-
tion with mating.
The Moon beings at this last stage were also capable
of giving utterance to sounds, or cries. These were Cosmic
sounds — not expressions of individual joy or sorrow, for
as vet there was no individual. The development of the
individual came later — in the Earth Period.
220 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
At the oiul of the Moon Period once more came the
interval of rest, the Covsmic Night. The divided parts
were dissolved and mei-ged in the general Chaos which
preceded the reorganization of the Globe for the Eai'lli
l\M-i()d.
The Loi-ds of Wi.sdom had now evolved so far, that
they were cai)able of taking charge as the highest crea-
tive Hierarchy. The>' were given special charge of the
divine spirit in man dnring the Earth Period.
The Loi'ds of Individuality were also sufficiently ad-
vanced to work upon the spirit in man and the life sj)ir-
it was therefore put under their charge.
Another creative . Hierarch^y had special care of the
three germs of the dense, vital, and desire bodies as they,
were evolving. They were the ones who, under the di-
rection of the higher orders, actually did the principal
work on these bodies, using the evolving life as a kind
of instrument. This Hierarchy is called the "Lords of
FoiMii." They wci'c now evolved so far that they were
given charge of the third aspect of the spirit in man —
the human spirit — in the coming Earth Period.
Thei-e were twelve great Creative Hierarchies active
in the work of evolution at the commencement of the
Satui-n Period. Two of these Hierarchies did some
woi'k to help at the very beginning. No information has
been given as to what they did, nor annhing about
them, except that they helped of their own free will,
and then withdrew from limited existence into libera-
tion.
Thi-cc more of the ( "reative Hierarchies followed them
at the beginning of the Earth Period, the Lords of the
Flame, the Cherubim and the Seraphim, leaving .seven
Hierarchies in active service when the Earth Period
THE WORK OF EVOLUTION 221
began. (Diagram 9 will give a clear idea of the twelve
Creative Hierarchies and their statns).
Dia(;ram 9.
The Twelve Great Creative Hierarchies.
Zodiacal Sign. Name. Status.
1 - Aries Nameless The first and second or-
2 - Taurus. . . . Nameless ders are said to have
passed beyond the ken of
anyone on Earth. It is
known that they gave
some assistance at the
beginning of our evolu-
tion.
The three following orders worked
of their own free will to help man
during the three periods which pre-
ceded the Earth Period. They have
also passed to liberation:
3 - Gemini Seraphim who, in the Moon Period,
aroused in man-in-the
making the germ of the
human spirit — the Ego,
4 - Cancer Cherubim who, in the Sun Period,
aroused the germ of the
life spirit.
5 - Leo.... Lords of Flame who, in the Saturn Per-
iod, aroused the germ of
the divine spirit and gave
the germ of the dense
body.
The following Seven Creative Hier-
archies are active in the Earth Period:
6 - Virgo.... Lords of Wisdom., who, in the Sun Period,
started the vital body.
7 - Libra. Lords of Individuality, who, in the Moon Period,
started the desire body.
8 - Scorpio.... Lords of Form., who have special charge
of human evolution in
the Earth Period.
9 - Saggitarius. .Lords of Mind., the humanity of the
Saturn Period.
10 - Capricornus .. Archangels. . the humanity of the
Sun Period.
11 - Aquarius Angels the humanity of the
Moon Period.
12 - Pisces .. The Virgin Spirits, who are the humanity of
the present Earth Period.
222 Till"- HOSIC'RUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
■Tlie Lords of Mind became experts at building bodies of
"mind-stuff" as we are becoming experts at building bodies
of chemical matter, and for a similar reason: The Kegion
of Concrete Thought was the densest condition of matter
reached during the Saturn Period where they were human
and the Chemical Region is the densest state to be con-
tacted by our humanity.
In the Earth Period the Lords of Mind reached the
Creator-stage, and radiated from themselves into our being
the nucleus of material from which we are now seeking to
build an organized mind. They are called 'Towers of
Darkness" by Paul because they came from the dark Saturn
Period, and are considered evil on account of the sepa-
rative tendency appertaining to the plane of Reason as
contrasted with the unifying forces of the World of Life
Spirit ; the realm of Love. The Lords of Mind work with
humanity; but not with the three lower Kingdoms.
The Archangels became experts at building a body of
desire-stuff: the densest matter of the Sun Period. There-
fore they are able to teacli and guide such less evolved
beings as man and animal how to mold and use a desire-
body.
The Angels are thoroughly experienced in building a
vital l)ody for in the Moon period when they were human
the ether was the densest condition of matter. On account
of this ability they are properly the teachers of man, animal
and plant witli regard to the vital functions: propagation,
nutrition, etc.
CHAPTEK IX.
Stragglers and Newcomers.
IX following through the preceding chapter the evolution
of life, consciousiH'ss and form — the triple phase of
manifestation of the virgin spirit — which is the life
that gathers the form about itself and gains consciousness
thereby, we have spoken as tliough there were only one
class; as though the virgin spirits, without exception, had
made constant and uniform progress.
This was done for the sake of simplicity, because strag-
glers there were, as there are in any great body or
company.
In school there are, every year, those who fail to reach
the standard required for promotion into a higher grade.
Similarly, in every Period of Evolution, there are those
who fall behind Wause tiiey have not attained the stand-
ard necessary to pass onward to the next higher stage.
Even so early as the Saturn Period there were some who
failed to improve suthciently to take the next forward step.
At that stage the Higher Beings were working with the
life, which was itself unconscious, but that unconscious-
ness did not prevent the retardation of some of the virgin
spirits who were not so pliable, nor so readily adaptable
as others.
In that one word "Adaptability," we have the great
(secret of advancement or retardation. All progress depends
223
224 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
upon whethei- an ovolvinj; l)ein{; is flexible, adaptable
and jiliable, so as to be able to accomniodato itself to
new conditions, or whether it is crystallized, set, and in-
capable of altci-ation. Adaptability is tlie (pialily which
makes for profi^i'ess, whether an entity is at a hifjh or a
low stage of evolution. Lack of it is the cause of the re-
tardation of the spirit and retrogression of the Form.
This applies to the past, present and future, the division
of the (jualified and the uncpialitied, thus, being made
with the exact and impersonal justice of the law^ of Con-
secjuence. There never was, or ever shall be any ar-
bitrary distinction made between the "sheep" and the
' ' goats. ' '
The hardened unresponsive condition of some of the
Saturn beingi^s prevented the awakening of the tiivine
spii'it within them, therefore they remained sim])ly min-
eral, all they had gained being the germinal dense body.
Thus there were two classes, or kingdoms, in the Sun
Period, i. e.. the stragglers of the Saturn Period, who
were still mineral, and the pioneers of the Saturn Per-
iod, who were capable of receiving the germ of a vital
body and becoming plant-like.
In addition to those two kingdoms there was also a
third — a new life wave, which was just commencing its
activity at the beginning of the Sun Period. (That is
the life wave which now ensouls our animal,s).
The matter into which the new life wave entered, to-
gether with the stragglers of the Saturn Period, com-
posed the mineral kingdom of the Sun Period. There
was, however, a great diffeience in those two sub-divi-
sions of the second kingdom. It is possible for the
stragglers to make a ' ' spurt ' ' and overtake the pioneers,
who are now our humanity, but impossible for the new
life wave of the Sui? Period to do that. It will reach
STRAUGLEKS AND NEWCOMERS 225
a stage corrcriponding to the human, but under very d li-
ferent conditions.
The division of stragglers and pioneers took place in
the seventh Kevolution of the Saturn Period, when tlie
divine spirit was awakened by the Lords of the Flame.
Then it was found that some of the evolving entities were
in such an unresponsive, hardened condition that it was
impossible to arouse them. They therefore remained with-
out the spark of spirit ui)on which their progress depended
and they were obliifcd to remain at the same level, being;
unable to follow tlio others in whom the spiritual spark
was awakened. Truly, truly, all that we are or are not is
the result of our own effort, or our own inaction.
These stragglers and the newly arrived life wave formed
dark spots in the otherwise glowing gas-sphere which was
the densest Globe of the Sun Period, and our present Sun-
spots are an atavistic remainder of that condition.
In the sixth Revolution of the Sun Period the life spirit
was awakened by the Cherubim, and again it was found
that some who had safely passed the critical point in the
Saturn Period, had fallen behind in the Sun Period and
were unfit to have the second asjwct of the spirit vivifiecl
Thus there were another class of stragglers, who had
lagged behind the crest-wave of evolution.
In the seventh Revolution of the Sun Period the Lords
of the Flame reappeared to awaken the divine spirit i'l
those who failed to qualify for it at the end of the Saturn
Period, but had att^iined to the point where they could
receive the spiritual impulse in the Sun Period. The
Lords of the Flame also awakened the germ of divine
spirit in as many of the new life wave entities as were
ready, but here also there were stragglers.
2?(j EOSKKUCIAN COSMO-COXCEPTION
Thus at the beginning of the Moon Period there were
the following classes :
1 — The Pioneers -who bad successfully passed througjli the Saturn
and the Sun Pet'iods. They had dense and vital bodies,
divine and life spirit germinally active.
2 — The Stragglers of the Sun Period, -who had dense and vital
bodies, also divine spirit — all germinal.
3 — The Stragglers of the Saturn Perioil, who had been jiroinoted
in the seventh Eevolution of the Sun Period. They had
tlie germ of dense body and divine spirit.
4 — The Pioneers of the new I^ife Wave, who had the same vehicles
as class 3, but belong to a different scheme of evolution
from ours.
5 — The Stragglers of the new Life "Wave, who had only the germ
for the dense body.
6 — A Xew Life Wave, which entered upon its evolution at the
beginning of the Moon Period and is the life that en-
souls our plants of the present day.
It is necessary to remember that Xature hastens slowly.
She makes no sudden changes in forms. To her, time is
nothing; the attainment of perfection is everything. A
mineral does not change to a plant at one bound, but by
gradual, almost imperceptible degrees. A plant does not
become an animal in a night. It requires millions of 5'ears
to bring about the change. Thus at all times there are all
stages and gradations to be found in nature. The Ladder
<.)f Being stretches without break from protoplasm to God.
Therefore we have to deal, not with six different king-
ioms corresponding to the above six classes which entered
the arena of evolution at the beginning of the Moon
Period. l)ut with tlnvi' Idngdoms only — mineral, plant and
animal.
The lowest class in the ^Moon Period composed the new
life stream which there commenced its evolution. It
formed the hardest mineral part, yet it must be borne in
mind that it was by no means as hard as the mineral of
the present time, but only about as dense as our wood.
STRAGGLERS AND NEWCOMERS 22?
This statement does not contradict former ones which
described the Moon as watery, nor does it conflict with
diagram 8, sliowing the densest Globe in the Moon Period
as located in the Etlieric Region, which is etheric. As
before stated, the fact that the path of evolution is spiral
prevents any condition ever being duplicated. There are
similarities, but never reproductions of identical conditions.
It is not always possible to describe conditions in exact
ternis. The best avaihible term is used to convey an idea
of the conditions existing at the time under consideration.
Class 5 in our list was nearly mineral, yet on account
of having passed through and beyond the mineral condi-
tion during the Sun Period, it had some plant charac-
teristics.
Class 4 was ahnost plant and did evolve to a plant l^efore
the close of the ^loon Period. It was, however, more
nearly allied to the mineral kingdom than the next two
classes, which formed tlie higher kingdom. We may there-
fore group classes 4 and 5 together, as forming a sort of
half-step, a '^mineral-plant" kingdom, which composed the
surface of the ancient planet of the ^loon Period. It was
something like our present ]"»eat, which is also a state
between the mineral and the ])lant. It was soggy and wet,
consistent with the statement that the ^loon P(M-i(id was
wateiw.
Thus the fourth, fifth and sixth classes composed the
different gradatitms of the mineral kingdom in the Moon
Period — the highest being nearly plant and the lowest
the hardest mineral substance of that time.
Classes 2 and 3 formed the plant kingdom, though tiny
were both really more than plants, yet were not quite
animal. They grew in the mineral-plant soil : they were
stationary like plants : yet they could not have grown in a
228 ROSICRUCIAN COSMOCOXCEPTION
purely mineral soil, as our plants do now, Ciood examples
of what tliGy were like may be found in our parasitic plants,
which cannot grow in a purely mineral soil, but seek, the
food already specialized by a real plant or tree,
Class 1 was composed of the pioneers of the life wave
of virgin spirits. In the Moon Period they were going
through a sort of animal-like existence. Yet they were
like the animals of our time only in so far as they had the
same vehicles and were under the control of a group-
spirit, which included the whole human family. In ap-
pearance they were very different from our present animals,
as shown by the partial description given in the previous
chapter. They did not touch the surface of the planet,
but floated suspended by umbilical-like cords. Instead
of lungs they had a gill-like apparatus through which they
breathed the hot steamy "fire-fog."' These features of the
!Moon existence are still recapitulated by the embryo dur-
ing the period of gestation. At certain stages of develop-
ment it has the gills. The ]\Ioon beings at that time had
also the horizontal spine of the animal.
During the Moon Period several more divisions of classes
occurred than in the preceding periods, because there were,
of course, stragglers who failed to keep abreast of the crest-
wave of evolution. As a result there were, at the begin-
ning of the Earth Period, 5 classes, some of them contain-
ing several divisions, as diagram 10 Avill show. These divi-
sions occurred at the following times and for the follow-
ing reasons:
In the middle of the fifth Revolution of the Moon Period,
when the Seraphim bestowed the germ of the human spirit
upon the pioneers who had fitted themselves to pass on,
some were found wanting when weighed in the balance
STRAGGLERS AND NEWCOMERS 009
and therefore unfit to receive the spiritual impulse whith
awakened the threefold spirit.
In the sixth Eevolution of the Moon Period the Cheni-
bim reappeared and vivified the life spirit of those who
had been left behind in the Sun Period but had since
reached the necessary stage of development (Class 2 in
our previous list), and also in those stragglers of the Sun
Period who had not evolved a vital body during their plant
existence in the Moon Period. (These latter were class 3
in the previous list).
Class 4 in the previous list had been go.ng through a
low stage of plant existence; nevertheless the ».iajority of
them had evolved the vital body sufficiently to allow of the
awakening of the life spirit.
Thus, the three last-named all possessed the same vehicles
at the beginning of the Earth Period, although only the
two first-named (classes 3a and 3b in diagram 10) belong
to our life wave, and have a chance of even yet overtaking
us if they pass the critical point which will come in the
next Eevolution of the Earth Period. Those who cannot
pass that point will be held over until some future evolu-
tion reaches a stage whore they can drop in and proceed
with their development in a new human period. They
will be debarred from going forward wiHi our humanity
because it will l)e advanced so far Iwyond Iheir status that
it would prove a serious clog to our progress to drag them
along. They will not Ix? destroyed, but simply held in
waiting for another period of evolution.
Progression with our ]uvsont wave of evolution is what
is meant when "salvation"" is spoken of in the Christian
religion, and it is something to l)e earnestly sought, for
though the "eternal damnation"' of those who are not
"■aved" does not mean destruction nor endless torture, it
230
ROSICRUCIAX COSMO CONCEPTION
DIAGRAM 10
Showing the different classes of the several life waves which are
evolving in the four kingdoms of the earth; their status t the
beginning of the enrih per.od ard the vehicles they then possessed; also
thair present status.
CLASS
VEHICLES
1— Pioneers of the Divine ) Dense )
Saturn. Sun and|Life [-spirit Vital ^ bidy
Moon Periods ! Human) Desire J
PRESENT STATE
2 — "^he Stragglers of
the Moon Period...
3— (a) The Stragglers
of the Saturn Pe-
riod
(b) The Stragglers
of the Sun Period. .
Divine ]
Dense
Life
;■ spirit Vital ! body
) Desire I
Divine ) Dense )
'spirit ) body
Life ) Vital i
4.11 thejaboxe belong to our
(c) Pioneers of the'
new Sun life wave. Same as 3a and 3b
the Aryan Races
The Mongolians. Af-
ricans, and all lower
Races
Anthropoids
life wave
Animals
-(a) Stragglers (if
the new Sun life
wave ivine spirit
(b) Pioneers of the'
new Moon life wave Same as 4a . .
Dense body
Plant Kingdom
Trees and perennials
I Flowers and grasses
5 — (a) Stragglers of
the new Moon life
wave Dense body only,
(b> The new life
wave of the Earth]
Period Dense body only; same as .5a.
I Mineral Kingdom
Sand, soft soils, etc.
, Mountains, rocks, etc.
STRAGGLERS AND NEWCOMERS 231
is nevertheless a very serious matter to be held in a state
of inci'tia for inconceivable milliards of years, before a
new evolution shall have progressed to such a stage that
those who fail here can have an opportunity to proceed.
The spirit is not conscious of the lapse of time, but it is
none the less a serious loss, and there must also be a
feeling of unhomelikeness when at last such spirits find
themselves in a new evolution.
So far as the present humanity is concerned, that pos-
sibility is so small as to be almost negligible. It is said,
however, that of the total number of virgin spirits which
started evolution in the Saturn Period, only about
three-fifths will pass that critical point in the next Rev-
olution and go on to the end.
The greatest apprehension of occult scientists is ma-
terialism, which if carried too far, not only prevents
progress but will destroy all the seven vehicles of the
vii'gin spirit, leaving it naked. Such an one will then
have to commence at the very beginning of the new evo-
lution. All the work it has done since the dawn of the
Saturn Period will have been utterly wasted. For this
reason, the present period is to our humanity, the most
critical of all. Therefore occult scientists speak of the
Sixteen Races, of which the Gennano-Anglo-Saxon is
one. as "the sixteen possibilities for destruction." May
the reader safely pass them all, for their grip is worse
than the retardation in the next Revolution.
Speaking generally, class 5 in the foregoing list was
given the germ of the divine spirit during the seventh
Revolution, when the Lords of Flame reappeared.
Therefore they were pioneers of the last life wave, en-
tering evolution at the Moon Period. They passed their
23j> ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
mineral existence there. The stragglers of that life wave
were thus left with only the germ of a dense body.
In addition to the above, there was also a now life wave
(our present mineral kingdom) entering upon its evolution
at the beginning of the Earth Period.
At the end of the ]\roon Period these classes possessed
the vehicles as they are classified in diagram 10, and started
with tliem in the beginning of the Earth Period. During
the time which has elapsed since then, the human kingdom
has been evolving the link of mind, and has thereby
attained full waking consciousness. The animals have
obtained a desire body ; the plants a vital body ; the strag-
glers of the life wave which entered evolution in the ^loon
Period have escaped the hard and fast conditions of rock
formation and now their dense bodies compose our softer
soils; while the life wave that entered evolution here in
the Earth Period forms the hard rocks and stones.
Thus have the different classes obtained the vehicles
ascribed to them in diagram 3, to which the reader ia
referred.
CHAPTER X.
The Eauth Pehk)D.
THE Gloljes of tlie Earth Period are located in tiie
four densest states of matter — the Region of Con-
crete Thought, the Desire World, tlie Etheric, and
the Chemical Regions (See Diagram S). The densest Globe
(Globe D) is our present Earth.
When we speak of "the densest Worlds," or tlie "densest
states of matter/' the term must be taken in a relative
sense. Otherwise it would imply a limitation in the Abso-
lute, and that is absurd. Dense and attenuated, like up
and down, east and west, are a])plicable only relatively to
our own status or position. As there are higher, finer
Worlds than those touched by our life wave, so there are also
denser states of matter which are the fields of evolution
for other classes of beings. Xor must it be thought that
these denser worlds are elsewhere in space ; they interpene-
trate our worlds in a manner similar to that in which the
higher Worlds interpenetrate this Earth. The fancied
solidity of the Earth and the forms we see is no bar to the
passage of a denser body any more than our solid dense
walls bar the passage of a human being clothed in his de-
sire body. Neither is solidity synonymous with density, as
may be illustrated by aluminum, a solid which is less dense
than the fluidic mercury; nevertheless the latter, in spite
of its density, will evaporate or exude through nuiny solids.
This being the fourth Period, we have at present four
233
234 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
eleineuts. In the Saturn Period there was but one element.
Fire — i. e., there was warmth, or heat, which is incipient
flic. In the second, or Sun Period, there were two ele-
ments, Fire and Air. In the third, or Moon Period, there
were three elements, Water being added ; and in the lourth,
or- Earth Period, was added the fourth clement, Karlh.
Thus it will be seen that a new cleinent was added for
eacli Period.
In the .7u])itcr ]\'riod an element of a spiritual nature
will be added, which will unite with the speech so that
words will invariably caiTv with Humu understanding —
not misunderstanding, as is frequently the case now.. For
instance, when one says 'lioiise,'" he may mean a cottage,
while the hearer may get the idea of a tenement flat
building.
To this environment of the four elements, as specified
above, the different classes mentioned in diagram 10 were
brought over by the Hierarchies in charge of them. We
remember that in the Moon Period these classes formed
three kingdoms — animal, animal-plant and plant-mineral.
Here on Earth, however, the conditions are such that there
can be no large half-way classes. There must be four dis-
tinctly different kingdoms. In this crA-stallized phase of
existence the lines between them must be more sliarply
drawn than was the case in former Periods, where «ne king-
dom gradually mei'gcd into the next. Therefore some of
the classes mentioned in diagram 10 advanced one-half
step, while others went liack half a step.
Some of the mineral-jilants advanced completely into
the plant kingdom and became the verdure of the fields.
Others went down and became the purely mineral soil in
which the phmts grew. Of the plant-animals some ad-
vanced into the animal kinsdom. ahead of time, and those
THE EARTH PERIOD 235
species have yet the colorless plant-blood, and some, like
star-fishes, have even the five points like the petals of
flowers.
All of class 2 whose desire bodies could be divided into
two parts (as was the case with all of class 1) were fitted
to become human vehicles and were therefore advanced
into the human group.
We must carefully remember that in the above para-
graphs we are dealing with Form, not with the Life which
dwells in the Form. The instrument is graded to suit the
life that is to dwell in it. Tliose of class 2, in whose
vehicles the above mentioned division could be made were
raised to the human kingdom, but were given the indwell-
ing spirit at a point in time later than class 1. Hence,
they are not now so far evolved as class 1, and are there-
fore the lower races of mankind.
Those whose desire bodies were incapable of division
were put into the same division as classes 3a and 3b. They
are our present anthro])oids. These may yet overtake our
evolution if they reach a sufficient degree of advancement
before the critical point already mentioned, wliich will
come in the middle of the fifth Revolution. If they do not
overtake us by that time, they will have lost touch with
our evolution.
It was said tliat man liad built his threefold bddv by
tlie help of others higher than he. but in the |>rcvious
Period there was no co-ordinating ))()wor; the threefold
spirit, the Ego, was separate and apart from its vehicles.
Xow the time had come to unite the spirit and the liody.
Where the desire body separated, the liigber jtait InH-ame
somewhat nwster over the lower part and over the dense
and vital bodies. It formed a fort of animal-soul with
v bieh the spirit could unite bv moans of the link of mind.
236 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO C0XG2PTI0N
Where thcro was no division of the desire body, tlie vehicle
was given over to desires and passions without any check,
and could therefore not be used as a vehicle icithin which
tlie spirit could dwell. So it was put under the control of a
group-spirit which ruled it from inthout. It became an
animal body, and that kind has now degenerated into the
body of the anthropoid.
Where there was a division of the desire body, the dei>se
body gradually assumed a vertical position, thus taking
the spine out of the horizontal currents of the Desire
World in which the group-spirit acts upon the animal
through the horizontal spine. The Ego could then enter,
work in and express itself through the vertical spine and
build the vertical larynx and brain for its adequate expres-
sion in the dense body. A horizontal larynx is also under
the domination of the group-spirit. While it is true that
some animals, as the starling, raven, parrot, etc., previ-
ously mentioned, are able^ because of the possession of a
vertical larynx, to utter words, they cannot use them under-
standingly. The use of ivords to express thought is the
highest human privilege and can be exercised only by a
reasoning, tliinking entity like man. If the student will
keep this in mind, it will be easier to follow the different
steps which lead up to this result.
The Saturn Revolution of the Earth Period.
This is the Eevolution during which, in each Period,
the dense body is reconstructed. This time it w'as given the
ability to form a brain and become a vehicle for the germ
of mind wliich was to l)e added later. This addition
constituted the final reconstruction of the dense body, ren-
dering it capable of attaininci the highest degree of eM-
ciency possible to such a vc^liicle.
Unspeakable Wisdom has been employed in its construe-
THE EARTH PERIOD 237
tion. It is a marvel. It can never be sufficiently im-
pressed upon the mind of the student what immeasur-
able faeilitios for the "laininj; of knowledge are contain-
ed in this insti'unient. and what a fjreat boon it is to
man ; how much he should prize it and how thankful he
should be to have it.
Some examples of the perfection of construction and
intelligent adaptability displayed in this instrument
have previously been given, but in order to further im-
pi'css this great truth upon the mind of the student, it
might not be out of place to illustrate moi-e fully this
Wisdom, also the work of the Ego in the blood.
It is generally known, in a vague kind of way. that
the gastric juice acts upon the food to promote assimila
tion ; but only a very few people, outside of the medical
profession, are aware that there are many different gas-
tric juices, each appropriate to the treatment of a cer
tain kind of food. The researches of Pavloff, however,
have established the fact beyond doubt, that there is
one kind of juice for the digestion of meat, another for
milk, another for acid fruit, etc. That fact, by the way.
is the reason why all foods do not mix well. ^lilk, for
instance, requires a gastric juice that is widely differ-
ent from almost any other kind excej^t that required
for the digestion of starchy foods, and is not readrly di-
gested with any food other than cereals. This alone
would show marveloits wisdom ; that the Ego working
subconsciously is able to select the different juices
which are appropriate to the different kinds of food
taken into the stomach, making each of just the right
strength and cpumtity to digest the food. What makes
the matter still more woiulei-ful. however, is the fact
that the gastric juice is i^oui-ed into the stomach in ad-
vance of the food.
238 ROS^ICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Wc do not consciously direct the process of mixing this
till id. The great majority of jieople know nothing of
metahoiism or any other phase of chemistry. So it is not
enough to say that, as Ave taste what is coming, we direct
the process by means of signals through the nervous
system.
When this fact of the selection of juices was first proven,
scientists were sorely puzzled trying to learn how the right
kind of juice was selected and caused to enter the stomach
hfforc the food. They thought the signal was given along
the nervous system. But it was demonstrated beyond doubt
ihat the proper juice was poured into the stomach even
though the nervous system was blocked.
At last Starling and Bayliss, in a series of experiments
of hrilliant ingenuitv, proved tluit infinitesimal parts of
the food are taken up by the ])lood as soon as the food en-
ters the mouth, go in advance to the digestive glands and
cause a flow of the proper juice.
This again, is only the physical side of the phenomena.
To understand the whole wonderful connection, we must
turn to occult science. That a-ene explains why the signal
is carried by the blood.
The blood is one of the highest expressions of the vital
bodv. The Ego guides and controls its dense instrument
})y means of the blood, therefore the blood is also the means
used to act on the nervous system. During some of the
time that digestion is going on, it acts partially through the
nervous system, but (especially at the commencement of
the digestive process) it acts directly upon the stomach.
When, during scientific experiments, the nerves were
blocked, the direct way through the blood was still open and
the Ego derived the necessary information in that way.
It will also be seen that tlie blood is driven to wherever
THE EARTH PERIOD 239
the Ego unfolds the greatest activity at any time. If a
situation re(|uires sudden thought and action, the hiood is
promptly driven to the head. If a heavy meal is to be
digested the greater portion of the l)lood leaves the head,
centering around the digestive organs. The Ego concen-
trates its efforts on ridding the body of the useless food.
Therefore a man connot think well after a heavy meal. He
is sleepy because so much blood lias left the l)rain that the
residue is insufficient to carry on the functions necessary
to full waking consciousness, besides, nearly all the vital
fluid or solar energy sjjecialized by the spleen is absorbed
by the blood rushing through that organ after a meal in
greater volume than between meals. Thus the rest of the
system is also deprived of the vital fluid in a large measure
during digestion. It is the Ego that drives the blood into
the brain. Whenever the body goes to sleep, the blood
leaves the brain, as may be proven by placing a man on a
balanced table. When he goes to sleep, the table will
invariably tip towards the feet, raising the head. During
coition the l)lood is centered in the sex organs, etc. All
these examples tend to prove that during the walking hours,
the Ego works in and controls the dense body by means of
the blood. The larger portion of the total amount goes to
that ])art of the body where at any given time, the Ego
nufohls any ]iarticular activity.
The reconstruction of the dense body in the Saturn
Revolution of the Earth Period was for the purpose of
rendering it capable of inter-penetration by the mind. It
gave the first impulst* to the building of the frontal part nf
the brain; also the inciphcnt division in the nervous system
which has since become apparent in its subdivisions — the
voluntary and the sympathetic. The latter was the only
one provided for in the ^looii Peri id. The voluntary nerv..
240 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
ous system (which has transformed the dense body from
a mere automaton acting under stimuli from without, to
an extraordinaiy adaptable instrument capable of being
guided and controlled by an Ego from within) was not
added until the present Earth Period.
The principal part of this reconstructive work was
done by the Lords of Form. They are the Creative
Hierarchy which is most active in the Earth Period, as
were the Lords of Flame in the Saturn Period, the
Lords of Wisdom in the Sun Period, and the Lords of
Individuality in the Moon Period.
The Earth Period is pre-eminently the Period of
Form, for here the form or matter side of evolution
reaches its greatest and most pronounced state. Here
spirit is more helpless and suppressed and Form is the
most dominant factor — hence the prominence of the
Lords of Form.
The Sun Revolution of the Earth Period.
During this Revolution the vital body was recon-
structed to accommodate the germinal mind. The vital
body was fashioned more in the likeness of the dense
body, so that it could become fitted for use as the dens-
est vehicle during the Jupiter Period, when the dense
body will have become spiritualized.
The Angels, the humanity of the ^loon Period, were
aided by the Lords of Form in reconstruction. The or-
ganization of the vital body is now next in efficiency to
the dense body. Some writers on this subject call the
former a link, and contend that it is simply a mold of
the dense body, and not a separate vehicle.
While not desiring to criticise, and admitting that
this contention is justified by the fact that man, at his
present stage of evolution, cannot ordinarily use the
THE EARTH PERIOD 241
vital body as a se])arate vehicle — because it always i-e-
inains with the dense body and to extract it in toto would
cause the death of the dense body — yet there was a time
when it was not so fii'ndy incorporated with the latter,
as we shall pi-esently see.
During those epochs of our Earth's history whidi have
already been mentioned as the Lenuirian and the Atlan-
tean, man was involuntarily clairvoyant, and it was pre-
cisely this looseness of connection between the dense and
the vital bodies that made him so. (The Initiatoi-s of
that time helped the candidate to loosen the connection
still further, as in the voluntary clairvoyant.)
Since then the vital body has become much more firmly
interwoven with the dense body in the majority of people,
but in all sensitives it is loose. It is that looseness which
ccnstitutes the difference between the psychic and the or-
dinary person who is unconscious of all but the vibrations
contacted by means of the five senses. All human beings
have to ])ass through this period of close connection of the
vehicles and experience the consequent limitation of con-
sciousness. There are. therefore, two classes of sensitives,
those who have not become firmly enmeshed in matteiv
such as the majoi'ity of the Hindus, the Indians, etc.. who
])Ossess a certain low gracie of clairvoyance, or are sonsitve
to the sounds of nature, and those who are in the vanguard
of evolution. The latter are emerging from the acme of
materiality, and are again divisible into two kinds, one of
which develops in a passive, weak-willed manner. By the
help of others they re-awaken the solar plexus or other
organs in connection with the involuntary nervous system.
These are therefore involuntary daii'voyants. mediums who
have no control of their faculty. They have retrograded.
The other kind is made up of those w ho by their own wills.
242 ROSrCRUCIAN COS^rO-CONCEPTIOiSr
unfold the vibratoi-v powers of organs now connected with
the voluntary nervous system and thus become trained
occultists, controlling their own bodies and exercising the
clairvoyant faculty as they will to do. They are called
voluntary or trained clairvoyants.
in the Jupiter Period man will function in his vital
body as he now does in his dense boc\v ; and as no develop-
ment in nature is sudden, the process of separating the
two bodies has already commenced. The vital body will
then attain a much higher degree of efficiency than the
dense body of today. As it is a much more pliable vehicle,
the spirit w^ill then be able to use it in a manner impossible
of realization in the case of the present dense vehicle.
The Moox Revolutiox of the Earth Period.
Here the Moon Period was recapitulated, and much the
same conditions prevailed (on an advanced scale) as ob-
tained on Globe D of that Period. There was the same
kind of fire-fog atmosphere; the same fiery core; the same
division of the Globe into two parts, in order to allow the
more highly evolved beings a chance to progress at the
proper rate and pace, which it would be impossible for
beings such as our humanity to equal.
In that Revolution the Archangels (humanity of the
Sun Period) and the Lords of Form took charge of the
reconstruction of tlve desire body, but they were not alone
in that work. When the separation of the Globe into two
parts occurred, there was a similar division in the desire
bodies of some of the evolving beiags. We have already
noted that where this division took place, the form wa«
ready to become the vehicle of an f??dwellng spirit, and in
order to further this purpo-^e the Lords of !Mind (humanity
of the Saturn Period) took possession of the higher pare
of the desire body and implanted in it the separate seU^
THE EARTH PERIOD 243
hood, without wliich tlie present man with all his glorious
possibilities, could never have existed.
Thus in the latter part of the Moon Revolution the
first germ of separate personality was implanted in tke
higher part of the desire body by the Lords of ^lind.
The Archangels were active in the lower part of the
desire body, giving it the purely animal desires. They
also worked in the desire bodies where there was no divi-
sion. Some of these were to becoiiK? the vehicles of the
animal group-spirits, which work on them from without,
but do not enter wholly into the animal forms, as the indi-
vidual s])irit does into the human body.
The desire body was reconstructed to render it capable of
being interpenetrated by the germinal mind wliich, during
the Earth Period, will be implanted in all those desire
bodies in which it was possible to make the before-men-
tioned division.
As has been previously explained, the desire body is an
unorganized ovoid, holding the dense body as a dark spot
within its center, as the white of an L'gg surrounds the yolk.
There are a numi)er of sense centers in the ovoid, wiiiLJi
have appeared since the l)eginning of the Earth Period. In
the average human being these centers appear merely as
eddies in a current and are not now awake, hence his
desire body is of no use to him as a ■■separate vehicle of con-
sciousness; but when the sense centers are awakened they
look like whirling vortices,
Eest Periods Between Revolution's.
Hitherto we have noted only the Cosiuic Nights Ixitween
Periods. We saw that there was an interval of rest aad
assiiuilation Ix'tween the Satuiii iiiul ilie Sun Periods;
another Cosmic Niirht between the Sun and the ^[(^on
244 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
Periods, etc. liut in additinn to these, there are also rests
between the Kevolutions.
We nii.uht liken the Periods to the different incarnations
of man; the Cosmic Xi<rhts between them to the intervals
between deaths and new hirtlis: and the rest between Revo-
lutions would then be analogous to the rest of sleep between
two days.
When a Cosmic Xiirht sets in. all manifested 'things are
resolved into a homogeneous nuiss — the Cosmos again
becomes Chao^^.
This periodical return of matter to primordial substance
is what makes it possible for the spirit to evolve. Were the
crystallizing process of active manifestation to continue
indefinitely it would offer an insurmountable barrier to the
progress of Spirit. Every time matter has crystallized to
such a degree that it becomes too hard for the spirit to
work in, the latter withdraws to recuperate its exhausted
energy, on the same principle that a power-drill which has
stopped when boring in hard metals, is withdrawn to
regain its momentum. It is then able to bore its way
further into the metal.
Freed from the crystallizing energy of the evolving spir-
its, the chemical forces in matter turn Cosmos to Chaos by
restoring matter to its primordial state, that a new start
may be made by the regenerated virgin spirits at the dawn
of a new Day of Manif-estation. The experience gained in
former Periods and Revolutions enables the Spirit to build
up to the point last reached, with comparative celerity,
also to facilitate further progress by makiag such altera-
tions as its cumulative experience dictates.
Thus at the end of the Moon Revolution of the Earth
Period, all the Globes and all life returned to Chaos, re-
I
THE EARTH PERIOD 245
emorging therefrom at the beginning of the fourth Kovo-
lution.
The Fourth Eevolutiox of the Earth Period.
In tlie exceeding complexity of the scheme of evolution,
there are always spirals within spirals, ad infinitum. So
it will not \)e sur})rising to learn that in every Kevolution
the work of recapitulation and rest is applied to the differ-
ent Globes. When the life wave reappeared on Glolje A
in this Eevolution. it went through the developn^ent of the
Saturn period; tiicn after a rest which, however, did not
involve the complete destruction of the Glolje, but only an
alteration, it appeared on Globe B, where the work of the
Sun Period was recapitulated. Then after a rest, the life
wave passed on to Globe C, and the work of the ]\[oon
Period was repeated. Finally, the life wave arrived on
Globe D, which is our Earth, and not unlii then did tlie
proper work of the Earth Period begin.
Even then, the spiral within the spiral precluded its
begiiming irnmediatoly on the arrival of th'' life wave
from Globe C, for the bestowal of the germ of mind did
not actually take place until the fourth Epoch, the three
first Epochs being still further recapitulations of the Sat-
urn, Sun and Moon Periods, but alwavs on a higher scale.
CHAPTEK XT.
The Gexesis and Evolltiox of Olr Solar System.
Chaos.
IX the previous pa^a's iiotliinir has been said about ouv
Solar System, and (tf the different phuiets \v!;i(l)
compose it. because it was not until the Earth Period
was reatlu'd Ihat the present differentiation was luade.
Tlie Earth Period is the acme of diversification, and
althouiih we have been sjx^akincj of only one class of vii'uin
spirits — those who. in the strictest and most liinit<-'d sense,
are concerned with the Earth evolution — there are in real-
ity seven "Rays"' or streams of life, all pursuing dill'erent
evolutions, yet all belonirin^ to the original class of vii-gin
spirits to which our humanity Ijclongs.
In the previous Periods all of these different sub-classes
or Eays found a suitable environment foi- their evolution
on the same planet. But, in the Earth Period, conditions
became such that in order to provide for each class the
degree of heat and the vibration necessary for its jiarticu-
lar phase of evolution, they were segregated on dill'erent
planets, at varying distances from the Sun — the cential
source of life. This is the raison d'etre of our System
and all the other Solar Systems in the Universe.
Before proceeding with the description of the evolution
of our humanity on the Earth after its separation from
the central Sun, it is necessary for the maintenance of
sequential order in the description to explain the differen-
tiation which scattered the planets of our System in space.
246
GENESIS AND K VOLITION OF SOLAR SYSTEM 247
Active manifestation — particularly in the Physical
World — depends u])on separateness; upon the limitation
of life by form. But during the interim between Periods
and Revolutions the marked distinction between form and
life ceases. This applies not only to man and the lower
kingdoms, but to the Worlds and C}lol)es which are the
basis of form for the evolving life. Only the seed-atoms
and the nuclei or centers of the World-Globes remain —
all else is one homogeneous substance. There is but one
Sj)iiit pervading space. Life and Form, its positive and
negative poles, are one.
This state of things was what Greek mythology de-
scriljed a? "Chaos."' The ancient Norsemen and the Teu-
tonic mytliolngv call it ''Ginnungagap." wliich was liouiided
upon the northern side by the ct)ld and foggy "Xiliheiiii"'
— the land of mist and fog — and npon the south side by
tl>e fire "Muspelheim."' When heat and c^ld ent<'red the
space which was occupied by Chaos or Ginnungaga]>. they
caused the crystallization of the visible universe.
The Bible also gives one the idea of infinite space pre-
ceding the activity of Spiiit.
In our present materialistic jicritnl we have unfortunate-
ly lo-^t the idea of all that lies behind that word Space.
We are so accustomed to s|)oaklng of ''emiity'* space, or
the "great void'' of space, that we have entirely lost the
grand and holy significance of the word, and are thus in-
(•a|)able of feeling the reverence that this idea of Sjiam'
a:i(l Chaos should inspire in our breast?.
'I'o the Ro?icrucians, as to any occult school, there is no
sucii thing as empty or void space. To them sffucr is Spirit
in its attenuated form ; while matter is crystallizcil spare
or Spirit. Spirit in manifestation i? dual ; that which we
see as Forui is the neirativ!' mnii*'i>-tation of Spirit — crys-
248 ROSK'RUCIAN (.OSMO-CONCEPTION
tallized and inert. Tlio positive pole of Spirit manifests
as Life, galvanising the negative Form into action, hut
both Life and Form originated in Spirit, Space, Chaos !
To get an idea from everyday life which will illustrate,
we may take the hatching of an e^^. The egg is filled
with a moderately viscous fluid. 'J'his fluid, or moisture,
is subjected to heat, and out of the soft, fluid ic substance
comes a living chick, with hard bones and comparatively
hard flesh, and with down that has a comparatively hard
quill, etc.
When a living chick can come out of the inert fluid of
an egg without the addition of any hardening substance
from outside, is it a far-fetched idea to claim that the
universe is crystallized Space or Spirit? Tliere is no doubt
that the claim will seem foolish Id many; but this l)0()k
is not for the purpose of convincing the world at large
that these things are. It is intended to aid those who
inherently feel that these things must he and to help them
to see the light upon this great World-mystery, which the
writer has been permitted to behold. The special object
at present is to show that Spirit is active all the time — in
one way during Manifestation, and in another during
Chaos.
Modern science would sneer at the idea tluit life could
exist upon a Globe which is in the process of formation.
That is because science cannot dissociate Life and Form
and cannot conceive of Form except as solid and tangible
— cognizable by one of our five physical senses.
The occult scientist, in accordance with the above defini-
tions of Life and Form, hdlds that Life may exist inde-
pendently of Concrete Form : may have Forms not per-
ceptible to our present limited senses, and amenable to
GENESIS AND EVOLUTION OF SOLAR SYSTEM 249
none of the laws which apply to this present concrete
state of matter.
It is true that the Nebular Theory holds that all ex-
istence (which is to say all Form, the Worlds in Space
and whatever Forms there may be upon them) has come
from the fieiy nebula ; but it does not recognize the fur-
ther fact insisted upon by occult science — that the fiery
nebula is Spirit. It does not admit that the whole at-
mosphere around us. the space between the worlds, is
Spirit and that there is a constant interchange going on
all the time — Form dissolving into Space, and Space
crystallizing into Form.
( 'haos is not a st-ate which has existed in the past and
has now entirely disappeared. It is all around us at the
present moment. "SVere it not that old forms — having
outlived thcii- usefulness — are constantly being i-esolved
back into that Chaos, which is also as constantly giving
birth to new forms, there could be no progress; the work
of evolution would cease and stagnation would ])revent
the possibility of advancement.
It is axiomatic that "The oftener we die. the better we
live." The Poet-Initiate. Goethe, says:
Who lias not this —
Ever <lymi; aii<l biiiiginfj to liirtli —
Will aye reniain a sorry guest
Upon this ilisiiuil earth.
and Paul says, "I die daily."
Therefore, as studi-nts of occult science, it i? necessary
to realize tiiat even during active manifestation. j7 is
Chaos that is the hasi>i of all profjross. Our life during
Chaos is ba.sed upon our life in active manifestation, and
vice versa, i. e., what we are able to achieve during active
manifestation, and tlie ability to progress at all. is tha
250 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
result of the existence in Chaos. The interim hetween
Periods and Revolutions is in reality much more impor-
tant to the growth of the soul than concrete existence,
though the latter is the basis of the former and therefore
cannot be dispensed with. The importance of the Chaotic
interim lies in the fact that during tliat jicrind the evolv-
ing entities of all classes arc so closrly united that they
are really one; consequently those wliitli arc o'' lower
development during manifestation are in closest contact
with the more highly evolved, thus experiencing and hen-
I'iiting by a much higher vibration than their own. This
enal)les them to live over and assimilate their past cx])cri=
enccs in a manner impossible when hampered by Form.
We have seen the benefit to the spirit in man fi'oin the
interim between death and a new birth. There tiie form
still exists, though much more attenuated than tlie dense
body: but in the Cosmic Night and interval? of rest
between Periods and Revolutions, where there is ])erfcct
freedom from form, the beneficial results of past experi-
ences can be much more cflfcctivcly assimilated.
We have a word wliich was originally coined to convey
the idea of the state of things between manifestations.
Tliis word, however, has been used in a iiiat<'rial sense to
such an extent that it has lost its primal significance.
That word is Gas.
It may be thought that this is a very old word, wliicb.
has nearly always existed as a synonym for a state of
matter lighter than liquids, but such is not the case, Tlie
word was first used in "Physica."' a work which appeared
in ir)33, the author of it being Commenius. a Rosicrucian
Commenius did not call himself a Rosicrucian: no true
Brother does so puldicly. Only the Rosicrucian knows the
brother Rosicrucian. Not even the most intimate friends
GENESIS AND EVOLUTION OF SOLAR SYSTEM 051
or relatives know of a man's connection with the order.
Those only who are Initiates themselves know the writers
of the past wlio were Rosicrueians, because ever through
their works shine the unmistakable words, phrases and
signs indicative of the deep meaning that remains hidden
from the non-Initiate. The liosicrucian Fellowship is
composed of students of the teachings of the Order, which
are now given publicly, because the world's intelligence is
growing to the necessary point of comprehension. This
work is one of the first few fragments of the Eosicrucian
knowledge being publicly given out. All that has been
printed as such, previous to the last few years, has been
the work of either charlatans or traitors.
Rosicrucians such as Paracelsus, Commenius, Bacon,
Hellmond and others gave hints in their works and in-
fluenced others. The great controversy concerning the
authorship of Shakespeare (which has to no avail blunted
80 many goose-quills and wasted so much good ink that
might have served useful ends) would never have arisen
had it been known that the similarity in Shakespeare and
Bacon is due to the fact that both were influenced by the
same Initiate, who also influenced Jacob Boehme and a
pastor of Ingolstadt, Jacobus Baldus, who lived subsequent
to the death of the Bard of Avon, and wrote Latin lyric
verse. If the first poem of Jacobus Baldus is read with a
certain key. it will l)e found that by reading down and up
the lines, the following sentence will apjx»ar: "Hitherto
I have spoken from across the sea by means of the drama ;
now I will express myself in lyrics."
In his "Physica," Commenius, the Eosicrucian, wrote:
**Ad hue spiritum incognitum Gas voco," i. c., "This
liitherto unknown Spirit I call Gas." Further on in the
same work he says. "This vapor which I have called Gas
252 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
is not far removed from the Chaos the ancients spoke of."
We must learn to think of Chaos as the Spirit of God,
which pervades every part of infinity; it will then be seen
in its true light, as the occult maxim puts it: "Chaos is
the seed-ground of the Coemos," and we shall no longer
wonder how "something can come out of nothing,'" be-
cause Space is not synonymous with "nothing." It holds
within itself the germs of all that exists during a physical
manifestation, yet not quite all ; for by the wedding of
Chaos with Cosmos there is something new brought forth
each time, which did not exist before; something that was
not foreshown and latent. The name of that something
is Genius — the cause of Epigenesis.
It appears in all kingdoms. It is the expression of the
progressive spirit in man, animal and plant. Chaos is
therefore a holy name; a name that signifies the Cause of
all we see in Xature and inspires a feeling of devotion
in every tried, true and trained occultist. He regards the
visible sense world as a revelation of the hidden potentiali-
ties of the Chaos.
Ti[E Birth of the Planets,
To express himself in the dense physical world, it was
necessary for man to evolve a suitable dense body. In a
world like this he must have a body with limbs, organs,
and a muscular system by means of whicli to move about;
also a brain to direct and co-ordinate his movements. If
the conditions had been different the body would have iDeen
modified accordingly.
It is necessary for all beings, high or low in the scale
of existence, to possess vehicles for expression in any par-
ticular world in which they may wish to manifest. Even
the Seven Spirits before The Throne must possess these
The 1,3,7&- 10 Aspects of God & Man
;'yy^Y-'v-;;;:'v^5A!a
GENESIS AND EVOLUTION OF SOLAR SYSTEM 253
necessary vehicles, which of course are differently condi-
tioned for each of Them. Collectively, They are God, and
make up the Triune .Godhead, and He manifests in a dif-
ferent way through each of Them.
^"here is no contradiction in ascribing different num-
bers to God. We do not sin against the ''oneness"' of light
l)ecause we distinguish three primary colors into which it
divides itself. The white light of the Sun contains the
seven colors of tlie spectrum. The occultist sees even
twelve colors, there being five between red and violet —
going one way around the circle — in addition to the red,
orange, yellow, green, etc., of the visible spectrum. Four
of these colors are quite indescribable, but the fifth — tlie
middle one of the five — is similar to the tint of a new-
blown peach-blossom. It is in fact the color of the vital
body. Trained clairvoyants who describe it as ''bluish-
grey," or "reddish-grey," etc., are trying to describe a
color that has no equivalent in the physical world : and
they are therefore compelled to use the nearest descriptive
terms afforded by our language.
Perhaps Color will enable us to realize the onenoss of
God with the Seven Spirits before The Throne better than
anvthing else. We will therefore turn to diagram 11.
We see l^re a white triangle looming up from a dark
background. White is synthetic, containing all colors
within itself, as God contains within Himself all things
in the Solar System.
Within the white triangle are a blue, a red and a yellow
circle. All other colors are simply combinations of these
three primary colors. These circles correspond to the
tliree aspects of God, wliith are without beginning, and
end in God, though e-xteinalized only during active nuini-
festation.
TABLE OF VIBRATIONS
WHOSE EFFECTS ARE RECOGNIZED AXD STUDIED BY SCIENCE.
1st Octave.
2d
3d
4tli
r.th
(itii
7th
Sth
Itth
luth
ir.th
I'Uth
2.-ith
30th
35tli
40 th
4r.th
46th
47th
48th
40th
r)Oth
nist
u7th
58th
59th
6(ith
(!lst
H-2.1
Number of Vibrations
per second.
, . .4
, . .8
..IG
. .3:;
. .04
. lli.S y
Sound.
. . .511' I
. l,(r_'-J I
82.7(;sJ
1.047,57(» Unknown.
33,554.4:il.' /
1.073,741.824 ■ Electricity.
34.359,738.3<!8 1
:::::::35:yvS2:uSA^2;^"known.
70.:!f,.s. 744.1 77. t!44 I
14(».7:;7,4<;s.:',.-,5.32S Mlcat.
L'.Sl.47J.'.»7'.>.71ti.65(i I
5ti2.'.M'.i.!i.-,:',.4l'l,312 Lisht.
. . . . 1,1 25, S!i'». <•(»(•). S42. ('.24 Chemical Uavs.
::i4n?^:Is:!::;i:!:;:;;;;:s^;;}^n'^-wn.
. . 2.S,S.2:{0,.".7f;. 151. 71 1,744^
. . 57(!,4t;!),7,';2.;iii3.423,4S,S l
. 1,152,021.504, cot!,. S4l',.07(i f X-Rays.
. 2,.305,843,v)00,213,t>93.052j
. 4,011,086,618,427,389,004 Unknown.
GENESIS AND EVOLUTION OF SOLAR SYSTEM 255
When these three colors are interblended, as shown in
the diajirrain, there appear four additional colors, the
three secondary colors — each due to the blending of two
primary colors — and one color (indigo) which contains
the entire gamut of colors, making in all the seven colors
of the spectrum. These colors represent the Seven Spir-
its before the Throne. The colors are different, as are
also the Seven Spirits, each having a different mission
in the Kingdom of God — our Solar System.
The seven planets circling around the Sun arc the
dense bodies of the Seven Planetary Genii. Their names
are: Uranus with one satellite. Saturn with eight moons.
Jupiter with four moons. Mars with two moons, the
Ea)'th jiiid its moon. Venus and ]\Iercury.
Bodies are always found to suit the purpose they are
made to serve, hence the dense bodies of the Seven Plan-
etary Spirits are spherical, that form being best adapted
to the enormous velocity with which they travel through
space. The Earth, for instance, travels about 6(i.000
miles per hour in its orbit.
Man's body had a different shape in the past from that
of the present, and from that which it will have in the fu-
tui-e. Dui-ing involution it was approximately spherical,
as it still is during ante-natal life, because the intra-
uterine development is a I'ecapitulation of past stages of
evolution. At that stage the organism developed the
sphei'c, because during involution man's energies were
directed inwa)-d. ujjon the building of its own vehicles,
as the embryo develops within the .sphere of the uterus.
Man 's dense and vital bodies have straightened, but his
higher vehicles still retain their ovoid form. In the dense
body, the co-ordinating and governing brain is situated at
256 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
one extremity. This is the most unfavorable position
for such an organ. Too long a time is rcquii-ed for im-
pulses to travel from one extremity to the other — from
the brain to the feet, or for impacts on the feet to reach
the brain. In cases of burns, for instance, science has
demonstrated that valuable time is lost, the skin being
blistered before a message can be carried from the in-
jured place to the brain and back again.
This inefficiency would be greatly lessened if the brain
were in the center of the body. Sensations and the re-
sponses thereto could be more quickly received and trans-
mitted. In the spherical planets the Planetary Spirit di-
rects from the center the movements of its vehicle. In
future man will bend over, as shown in diagram 12. He
will become a sphere, directing his energies outward, be-
cause a spherical form affords the greatest facility for
motion in all directions, and indeed, for combination of
simultaneous motions.
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception teaches that there
is a further evolution in store for planets.
When the beings upon a planet have evolved to a suffi-
cient degree, the planet becomes a Sun — the fixed center
of a Solar System. When the beings upon it have evolved
to a still greater degree, and consequently it has reached
its maximum of brilliancy, it breaks up into a Zodiac,
becoming, so to speak, the womb for a new Solar System.
Thus the great hosts of Divine Beings who. until then,
were confined within that Sun, gain freedom of action
upon a great number of stars, whence they can affect in
different wars the system which grows up within their
sphere of influence. The planets, or man-bearing worlds,
within the Zodiac are constantly being worked upon by
2^S ROSirRT'( IAN COSMUCONtErTIGN
these force.*, but iu various ways, according to the stage
they liave readied in evolution.
Our Suu i-ould not liecoine a Sun until it had sent out
from itself all the beings who were not suthciently evolved
to endure the hiizh I'ate of vibration and the great lumi-
nosity of the Ijeings who wcie (lualilicd foi' that cvoluiioii.
All the beings upon the ditl'erent planets would have been
(onsuiued iiad they renudned in the Sun.
'Ihi'^ visible Sun. however, thougli it is the place of
evolution for Beings vastly above man, is not by any
mcc.ns the Father of the other planets, as material science
suj^poses. On the contraiT. it is itself an enumation from
the Central Sun, -which is the invisible source of all that
IS in our. Solar System. Our visil)]e Sun is but the
miii'oi- in Mhifh are reflected the rays of enei'gy from the
Sjdritual Sun. The real Sun is as invisible as the real
Man.
I'ranus was the first jdant't to be thrown otf from the
nebula when its dill'erenliatimi began in Chaos, at the
dawn of the Earth Teriod. There was no light ])ut the
uini light of the Zodiac. The life that left with Uranus
^R of a rather backward strain and is said to evolve very,
very slowly.
Saturn was next dilferentiated. It is the field of action
for the life which is at the stage of evolution correspond-
mv to the Saturn Period. This planet was differentiated
belcre the ignition of the nebula and (like all nebulae
wL.:n passing through their Saturn Period of evolution)
Mil., not a source of light, but a reflector.
Jupiter was differentiated shortly afterwards, when the
nebula had become ignited. The heat of Jupiter is not so
great as that of the Sun, Venjis or Mercury, but on account
of its immense bul^jt is capable of retaining its heat and
GENESIS AND EVOLUTION OF SOLAR SYSTEM 259
thus remains a suital)le field of evolution for very ad-
vanced beings. It eorivsj)onds to the stage which will l)e
reached by the Earth itself in the Jupiter Period.
Mars is a mystery, and only a limited amount of in-
formation may be given out. We may say, however, that
the life on Mars is of a very backward nature and that the
so-called "canals'' are not excavations in the surface of
the planet. 'Jhey are currents such as. during the Atlan-
tean Kj)Och. spread over our planet, and the remains of
which can still be observed in the Aurora Borealis and the
Aurora Australis. The shifting of the Martian "canals,"
noted by astronomers, i-; thus accounteil for. If they were
really canals, they could not possibly shift, but currents
emanating from the Poles of ^lars may do so.
The Earth, including the ^loon. was next set out from
the Sun, and later Venus and ^Mercury. These and Mars
will 1)6 referred to later, in connection with the evolution
of man on the earth, and need not be further considered at
th:< time.
Wlicn a planet has i\Ioons it indicates that there are
Homc beings in the life wave evolving on that planet who
are too backward to share in the evolution of the main
liV wave, and they have therefore btM?n set out from the
nUinet to prevent them from hindering the progress of
i!:.' pioneers. Such i^ the ease with the beings inhabiting
o-.ir Moon. Tn the case of Jupiter it is thought probable
I'la^ the inhai)itant- of three of its four moons will oven-
l^ally l)e able to rejoin the life on the parent planet, but
it i< regarded as certain that the fourth Moon is an eighth
sph'^'e. like our own ^Foon, where retrogression and dis-
integration of the already acquired vehicle will result fn^m
too close adherence to material existence upon the part
260 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
of the cvolvinji: beings who hnvo l)rnufrht thenisolvos to
that deplorable end.
Neptune and its satellites do not i)i'opei'ly IjolonK to
our Solar System. The other planets — or i-athei- their
Spirits — exercise an influence over the whole of human-
ity, but the influence of Neptune is restricted to one par-
ticular class — the astrolofjers. The writer, for instance,
has several times felt its compelling influence in a
marked way.
When laggards inhabiting a iIo(m have retrieved their
position and retur)' j, to the parent jilanet; or, when con-
tinued I'ctrogressi .,, has caused complete disintegration
of their vehicle , li.e abandoned ^Icr,;. also commences to
dissolve. The momentum of a s])iritual impulse which
propelled it in a fixed orbit for aeons, may endure for
aeons after the Moon has been vacated, and from the
physical point of view it may still seem to be a satellite
of the planet it encircles. As the time goes on, however,
and the power of attraction exercised by the paren,i
planet diminishes, its orbit widens, until it reaches the
limit of our solar system. It is then expelled into inter-
stellar space ; dissolved in Chaos. The expulsion of these
cinder-like dead worlds is analogous to the manner in
which hai'd and foreign bodies iin])edded in the human
system make their way through the flesh to the skin. The
Asteroids illustrate this point. They are fragments of
Moons which once -encircled Venus and Mercury. The
beings once confined upon them are known in esotericism
as "The Loi-ds from Venus" and "The Lords fi-om Mer-
cury;" they retrieved their lost estate in a large measure
by service to our humanity, as will be later described,
and are now safe on their parent planet, while the Moons
the.v inhabited have partly disintegrated, and are already
far outside the earth's orbit. There are other "seeming"
moons in our system, but the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Concep-
tion does not notice them, as they are outside the pale
of evolution.
CHAPTER XII.
EVOLUTIOX ox TllK KaKTII.
Tlie I'olari'Ui Epoch.
WHILE the material wliicli now forms the Earth
wag yet a part of the Sun, it was, of course, in a
fiery condition; but as tiie fire does not burn
spirit, our human evolution connnenced at once, being
confined particularly to the Polar Pegion of the Sun.
Tiie highest evolved beings which were to become
liuman were the first to ai)pear. The substances which
now form the Earth were all molten, and the atmosphere
was gaseous, v'et man recapitulated his mineral stage anew.
From that attenuated chemical substance of the sun man
himself built his first mineral body, assisted by the Lords
of Form. If this statement is objected to on the ground
that man could not build unconsciously, the ease of the
mother can be cited in answer. Is she conscious of build-
ing the body of the babe in her womb? yet surely no one
will say that she has nothing to do with it I The only
dill'crence is that the mother l)uilds uiK<msciously for the
babe; and man built unconsciously for himself.
Man's first dense body did not even remotely resemble
his present splendidly organized vehicle. That has been
evolved only in the course of myriads of years. The lirst
dense body was a large, baggy object with an opening at
the top, from wliicli an organ jtrojcctcd. This was a kind
2(il
2G-i ROSK KTCIAX COSMO-COXCEPTION
of organ of oritMiUition and diroction. In the course of
time the dense body drew more closely together and con-
denseil. If it came too close to places of greater heat than
it lonld endure, it disintegrated. In time the organ grew
sensitive to the condition that tln'eatened destruction and
the dense body automatically moved to a safer place.
This organ has now degenerated into what is called the
pineal gland. Sometimes it is called "the third eye," but
that is a misnomer, because it never was an eye, but rather
tlie localized organ for the sensing of heat and cold, which
faculty is now distributed over the entire dense body.
During the Polarian Eiwch this sense was thus localized,
as the sense of sight is now in the eye, and that of hearing
in the ear. The extension of the sense of feeling since that
time indicates the manner in which the entire body will
be improved, so that at some future time any part of it
will be able to perceive all things. The senses of sight and
hearing will be extended over the entire body, as the sense
of feeling is now. Then man will be all eyes and ears.
Specialized sense organs indicate limitation. Sense per-
ception by the whole is comparative perfection.
At the early stage of which we are now speaking there
was a kind of propagation. These immense baggy crea-
tures divided in halves in a manner similar to the division
of cells l)y fission, but the se):)arated portions M'ould not
grow, each remaining only half as large as the original
form.
TiTK TTyperboreax Epoch.
x\t different points on the fiery globe there began in
the course of time the formation of crust-islands in a sea
of fire.
The Lords of Form appeared, with the Angels (human-
EVOLUTION ON TUK KAKTH ^63
ity of the Moon Period), and clotlied iiian"s douse form
with a vital body. Those baggy bodies then began to in-
crease in size by drawing to tiiemselves material from the
outside b}' osmosis, as it were. When they propagated, it
was no longer by dividing into lialves, but into two un-
e<]ual parts. Both ])arts grew until each liad attained tlie
original size of the parent.
As the I'ojarian l^jjoch was really a recapitulation of
the ISaturn Teiiod, it may be said that during tiiat time
man passed tlnough the mineral state; he had the same
vehicle — the dense body — and a consciousness similar to
the trance state. For analogous reasons, the plant state
vv .s passed through in the Hyperborean Epoch, as man
had a dense and a vital body and a dreamless-sleep-con-
sciousnesp.
Man began his evolution on the Kartli after ^fars had
been thrown off from the central mass, and that which is
now the Earth was yet undetached from the Sun; but at
the close of the Hyperborean Epoch the incrustation had
progressed so far that it had become an obstacle to the
progress of some of the higher evolved beings in the Sun.
The fiery condition also hindered the evolution of some of
the lower grades of creatures, such as man, who at that
stage rerpiired a denser world for his further development.
Therefore, the part which is now the Earth was thrown
oil' fi-om the Sun at the end of the Hyperborean Epoch,
and commenced to revolve around the parent body in a
Somewhat different orbit than at })resent. Shortly after-
wards Venus and ^len ury were thrown off for similar
reasons.
Crystallization always commences at the ]iole of a planet
wliere motioji is slow. The consolidated part gradually
works outwards towards the equator in obedience to the
264 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
centrifugal force. If that force is stronger tlian the co-
hesive tendency the consolidated mass is thi-own outwards
into space.
At the time when the Earth-globe was separated from
the parent-mass, it included that part which is now our
IMoon. On this great globe was evolving the life-wave
now passing through the human kingdom, also the life-
waves which entered evolution in the Sun, Moon, and
Earth Periods, and are now evolving through the animal,
plant and mineral kingdoms.
Mention has l)een made of the sti'agglers of various
Pei-iods who in later Periods were enabled to take a step
upward in evolution. There wei'C some, however, who did
not take this step. They did not evolve, and were there-
foi-e left further and fui-ther behind, until they became a
drag and a hindrance to the progressive ones. It became
necessary to get them out of the way, that the evolution
of the others might not be retarded.
In the ])eginning of the Lemurian Epoch, these "fail-
ures" (note that they were failures, not merely strag-
glers) had crystallized that part of the Earth occupied by
them to such a degree that it became as a huge cinder or
clinker, in the otherwise soft and fiery Earth. They were
a hindrance and an obstruction, so they, with the part of
the Earth they had crystallized, were thrown out into
space beyond recall. That is the genesis of the Moon.
The Moon — The Eighth Sphere.
The seven Globes, A to G, inclusive, are the field of
Evolution. The Moon is the field of Disintegration.
If Earth had not segregated from the original Globe
which is now the Sun. the rapidity of the vibrations would
have disintegrated man's vehicles. He would have grown
EVULUTIU.X UN Till-: KAHTil 265
SO rapidly that the growth of the iiiU8hroom would seem
slow in eomparisuii. He would have heeoine old before
he had time to pass through youtii. That such is the eifect
(if too much Sun is shown by the rapidity of growth at the
tropics, where nuiturity and old age are reached much
sooner than in the north. On the other hand had the
Moon remained with the Earth, man would have crystal-
lized into a statue. The separation of the ICarth from the
Sun, which now sends its rays from a far distance, enables
man to live at the proper rate of vibration, to unfold
slowly. The Moon-forces reach him from the exact dis-
tance necessary to enable hiin to build a body of the })ro])er
density. But although the latter forces are active in the
building of the form, they also cause death when their
continued work finally crystallizes the tissues of the body.
The Sun works in the vital body and is the foree which
makes for life, and wars against the death-dealing ^loon
force.
Tin-: Le^iuriax Epocii.
In this Epoch appeared the Archangels (the humanity
of Sun Period), and the Lords of Mind (the humanity of
Saturn Teiiod). Tliese Hierarchies were assisted by the
Lords of Form, who were given charge of the Earth
Period. They helped man to build his desire body, and
the Lords of Mind gave the germ of Mind to the greater
part of the pioneers who formed class 1, according to the
classification in diagram 10.
The Lords of Form vivified the Hunuin sjiirit in as
many of the stragglers of the M<xm Period as had made
the necessary progress in the three and one-half Revolu-
tions which had elapsed since the commencement of the
Earth Period, but at that time the Lordy of Mind could
26() ROSICRUGIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
not give thc'iii the germ of Mind. Thus a great part of
nascent linmanity was left without this link between tlie
threefold spirit and the threefold body.
Tlie Lords of Mind took charge of the higher part of the
desire body and of the germinal mind, impregnating them
with the quality of separate selfhood, without which no
separate, self-contained beings such as we are today would
be possible.
We owe to the Lords of Mind the separate personality,
with all the possibilities for experience and growth thus
atfoi'ded. And this point marks the birth of the Indi-
vidual.
Birth of the Ixdividual.
Diagram 1 will make clear the fact that the personality
is the reflected picture of the Spirit, the mind being the
mirror, or focus.
As when reflected in a pond, the images of trees appear
inverted, the foliage seeming to be the deepest down in
the water, so the highest aspect of the spirit (the Divine
Spirit) finds its counterpart in the lowest of the three
bodies (the dense body). The next highest spirit (the
life spirit) is reflected in the next lowest body (the vital
body). The third spirit (the human spirit) and its re-
flection, the third Iwdy (the desire body), appear closest
of all to the reflecting mirror, which is the mind, the lat-
ter corresponding to the surface of the pond — the reflect-
ing medium in our analogy.
The Spirit came down from the higher Worlds during
involution; and by concurrent action, the Bodies were
built upward in the same period. It is the meeting of
these two streams in the focussing Mind that marks the
point in time when the individual, the human being, the
EVOLUTION OX THE EABTH 267
Ego, is born — when the Spirit takes possession of its
vehicles.
Yet we must not suppose that this at once raised man
to his present status in evolution, making him tiie self-
conscious, thinking being he is today. Before tliat point
could be reached a long and weary road had to be trav-
eled, for at the time we are considering, organs were in
tiieir most rudimentary stage and there was no brain that
could be used as an instrument of expression. Kence tlie
consciousness was the dimmest imaginable. In short, the
man of that day was very far from being as intelligent as
our present-day animals. The first step in the direction
of improvement was tlie building of a brain to use as an
instrument of mind in the Physical World. That was
achie\ed by separating humanity into sexes.
Skparatiox of thk Sexes.
Contrary to the generally accepted idea, the Ego is bi-
sexual. Were the Ego sexless, the body would necessarily
be sexless also, for the body is but the external symliol of
the indwelling sjjirit.
The sex of the Ego does not, of course, express itself as
such in the inner worlds. It nuinifcsts there as two dis-
tinct qualities — Will and Imagination. The Will is tlie
male power and is allied to the Sun forces; Imagination
is the female ]iower and is always linked to the Moon
forces. This accounts for the imaginative trend of woman
and for the special ]>ower wliit'h the Moon exercises over
the female organism.
When the matter of which the Earth and the ^loon were
afterwards formed was still a part of the Sun, the body
of man-in-tbe-making was yet plastic, and the forces from
that part which afterwards became Sun, and that jiart
268 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
vhieli is now Moon Avorked readily in all Ijodies, so that
the man of the Hyperhorean Epoch "svas heiinaphrodite —
capable of producing another being from himself without
intercourse with any other,
AVhen the Earth separated from the Sun and shortly
afterwards threw off the Moon, the forces from the two
luminaries did not find equal expression in all, as formerly.
Some bodies 1)ecame more amenable to the forces from one,
and some to those from the other.
IXFLUEXCE OF MaKS.
In the part of the Earth Period preceding the separation
of the sexes — during the tliree and one-half Revolutions
which intervened between tlie time when Mars was differ-
entiated and the beginning of the Lemurian Epoch —
Mars traveled in a different orbit from the present, and its
aura (that part of its finer vehicles which extends beyond
the dense planet) permeated the body of the central planet
and polarized the iron within it.
As iron is essential to the production of warm, red
blood, all creatures were cold-blooded, or rather, the fluid
parts of the body were no warmer than the surrounding
atmosphere.
When the Earth was set free from the Central Sun, that
event changed the orbits of the planets and thus the influ-
ence of Mars over the iron in the Earth was minimized.
'J'lie Planetary Spirit of ]\Iars finally withdrew the re-
mainder of that influence, and although the desire bodies
of the Earth and Mars still penetrate, the tlynamic power
of Mars over the iron (which is a ]Mars metal) has ceased
and iron lias become available for use on our planet.
Iron is in reality the basis of separate existence. AVith-
out iron the red, heat-giving blood would be an impossi-
EVOLUTION OX THE EARTH 2G9
bility, and the Kgo could have no hold in tlie ])ody. When
red blood developed — in the latter part of the Leniurian
p]poc'h — the Ixjdy became upright and the time had come
when the Ego could begin to dwell within the body and
control it.
But to dwell within is not the end and aim of evolu-
tion. It is simply a means h}' which the Ego may better
express itself through its instrument, that it may manifest
in the Physical World. To that end the sense organs, the
larynx, and above all, a brain, must be built and perfected.
During the early part of the Hyperborean Epoch, while
the Earth was still united with the Sun, the solar forces
supplied man with all the sustenance he needed and he
unconsciously radiated the surplus for the purpose of
propagation.
When the Ego entered into possession of its vehicles it
became necessary to use part of this force for the building
of the brain and tlie hu'ynx, which was originally a part
of the creative organ. The larynx was built while the
dense body was yet bent togetiier in the bag-like shape
already described, which is still the form of the human
emi)ry(). As the dense body straightened and became up-
right, part of the creative organ remained with the upper
part of the dense body and later became the larynx.
Thus the dual creative force which had hitherto worked
in only one direction, for the ]iurpose of creating anotlier
being, became divided. One ]>art was directed upward to
build the l)rain and larynx, by means of which the Ego
was to become capable oF tliiiikiui: and eoniinnnic.-dinsj
thfiughts to other beings.
As a result of this change only one ])art of the force
essential in the creation of another being was available
to one individual, hence it becaifle necessary for each indi-
270 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
vidiial to seek the co-operation of another, who possessed
that part of the procreative force which the seeker hicked.
Tims did tlie evolving entity dlitain hrain consciousness
of the outside world at the cost of half its creative ])()W('r.
Previous to that time, it used within itself hoth parts of
that i)ower to externalize anotlier being. As a result of
tliat modification, however, it has evolved the power to
create and express thought. Before then, it was a creator
in the physical world only; since then it has become able
to create in the three worlds.
Tin: liACKs and Their Leaders,
Before considering in detail the evolution of the Le-
murians it may be well to take a general survey of the
Eaees and their Leaders.
Some very valuable works on Occultism, bringing before
the public the teachings of the Eastern Wisdom, have
nevertheless contained certain mistakes, owing to a mis-
understanding of the teachings by those who were so for-
tunate as to receive them. All books, not written directly
by the Elder Brothers, are liable to contain such eri'ors.
Considering the extreme intricacy and many complica-
tions of the subject, the wonder is not that mistakes do
ocfur, l)nt that they are not more frcqut'iit. 'iMiciofore thi^
vriiter does not presume to criticise, recognizing that miv.v
mimerous and more serious mistakes may be endwdied \ \
the present work, owing to his own misconception of t!.:^
tcaeliing He simply sets forth in tlie next few ]X')!'agrap'.:s
what he has received, which shows how the dilfering (and
seemingly contradictory) tcaeliing of two such valuable
works as "The Secret Doctrine'' by IL P. Blavatsky, and
''Esoteric Buddhism,"' by A. P. Sinnett, may be reconciled.
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 271
That i)ui't of huniuii evolution wiiich is to Ik- aecoiu-
plished during the present sojourn of the life wave on our
Earth is divisible into seven great stages or Epoehs: but
these cannot appi'opriately be ealled Kaees. Nothing to
which that name could be correctly applied appears until
the end of the Lemurian Ei)och. Fi'oni that time different
Races succeed one anothei- thi-ough the Atlantean and
Aryan Epochs, and will extend slightly into the Sixth
great Epoch.
The total nund)ei' of Races — })ast. i)rcsent ajul futui'C —
in our scheme of evolution is sixteen ; one at the end of
the Lemui'ian E])och, seven during the Atlantean Epoch,
seven more in our ])iesent Aryan Ejjoch and one in the
beginning of the Sixth Kpoch. Aftei- that time there will
be nothing that can propei'ly be <'alled a Race.
Races did not exist in the Periods which have preceded
the Earth Period and they will not exist in those Periods
which follow it. It is only here, at the very nadir of ma-
terial existence, that the difference is so great between
man and man as to warrant the separation into Races.
The immediate Leaders of humanity (apart f]'om the
creative Hiei-archies) who helped man to take the first
tottering steps in Evolution, after Involution had fur-
nished him with vehicles, were Beings much fui'ther ad-
vanced than man along the path of evolution. They
came on this errand of love from the two planets which
are located between the Ivnth and the Sun — Venus and
Mercury.
The Beings who iidial)it \'enus and Mei'cury are not
quite so fai" advanced as those whose present field of evo-
lution is the Sun, but they are very much further ad-
vanced than our hunuinity. Therefore they stayed some-
what longer witli theciMiti-al mass than did the inhabitants
273 E0STCRUC1A>J LUSMOtUAC iirTiUM
of tlie Earth, but at a certain i)oint their evolution de-
Tuanded separate fiekls, so those two phmets were thrown
off, Venus first, and tlien ^Mercury. Ivich was given such
proximity to tlie central ovb as insured the rate of vibra-
tion necessary for its evolution. The inhabitants of Mer-
luiy are the i'lirthost advanced, hence are closer to the !Sun.
Some of the inhabitants of each planet were sent to the
Earth to help nascent humanity and are known to occult
scientists as the "Lords of Venus" and the "Lords of Mer-
cury."
The Lords of Venus were leaders of the masses of our
pc()])K>. They were inferior beings of the Venus evolution,
who a])peared among men and were known as "messen-
gei'S of the Gods."' For the good of our humanity tiiey
led and guided it, step by step. There was no rebellion
against tlicir autlioritv, because man had not yet evolved
an independent will. It was to bring him to the stage
where he would be aide to manifest will and judgment
that they guided liim, until he should be able to guide
himself.
It was known that these messengers communed with the
(iods They wei'e held in deeji reverence and their com-
mands were obeyed without question.
When under the tuition of these Beings mankind had
reached a certain stage of progress, the most advanced
were placed under the guidance of the Lords of Mercury,
who initiated them into the higher truths for the purpose
of making them leaders of the ])eople. These Initiates
were then exalted to kingship and were tlie founders of the
dynasties of Divine Eul(>rs who were indeed kings "by the
grace of God." i. e., by the grace of the Lords of Venus
and Mercury, who were as Gods to infant humanity. They
guided and instructed the kings for the good of the peo-
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 273
pie and not for self-aggrandizement and arrogation of
rights at their expense.
At that time a JJiilcr held a sacred trust to educate and
help his p(.'oj)le; to alleviate and promote e(|uity and well-
being. He had the light of God to give him wisdom and
guide his judgment. Hence, while those i\ings reigned,
all things prospered, and it was indeed a Golden Age. Yet,
as we follow the evolution of man in detail, we shall see
that the present phase or period of development, though it
cannot be called a golden age in any but a material sense,
is nevertheless a necessary one, in order to bring man to
the point where he will be able to rule himself, for self-
wnstery is the end and aim of all ruhTship. No man can
safely remain ungovcrned irho has not learned to govern
Itimself, and at the present stage of development, that is
the hardest task that can be given him. It is easy to com-
mand others; it is hard to force obedience from oneself.
Influence of MKncri?Y,
The purpose of the Lords of ^Mercury at tliat time, and
of all Hierophants of ^lysteries since then, as also all
the occult schools of our day. was and is to teach the
candidate the art of Self-^Iastery. In the measure that a
man has mastered himself, and in that measure onli/. is he
qualified to govern others. Were the jjrescnt rulers of the
masses able to govern themselves we should again have the
^rillcnium or (Joldon Age.
As the Lords of A'enus worked on the masses of a long-
])ast age, so do the Lords of Mercury now work on the
Individual, fitting hin^ for mastery over self and (inci-
dentally only, not primarily) for mastery over others.
This work on their part is but the beginning of what will
274 ROSICHUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
be an inoreasino; ^lercurial influence during the remaining
three and one-half devolutions of the Earth Period.
During the first three and one-half Kevolutions Mars
held sway, polarizing the iron, preventing the formation
of the red blood and keeping the P]go from immuring it.self
in the body until the latter had attained to the requisite
degree of development.
During the last three and one-half Kevolutions Mercury
will operate to extricate the Ego from its densest vehicle
by means of Initiation.
Incidentally, it may be noted that, as Mars polarized the
iron, so Mercury has polarized the metal bearing its name
and tile woi'kiiigs of that metal will show very well this
tendency to take the dense body away from the spirit — to
liberate the latter from the former.
That dread disease, syphilis, is an example of condi-
tions where the Ego is fettered and immured in the body
to a particularly cram])ing extent. Sufficient mercury
relieves the condition, lessens the hold of the body upon
the Ego and lea^'es the latter to that comparative freedom
within the body which the normal person enjoys. But on
the other hand, an overdose of mercury causes paralysis,
thus taking the dense body from the man in an improper
way.
The Lords of Mercury taught man to leave and re-enter
the body at will ; to function in his higher vehicles inde-
pendent of the dense l)ody. so that the latter becomes a
cheerful dwelling house instead of a closely-locked prison
— a useful instrument instead of a clogging fetter.
Therefore occult science speaks of the Earth Period as
Mars-Mercury, and so it may be said truly that we have
been in Mars and are going to ]\Iercury, as taught in one
of the occult works previously mentioned. Jt is also true,
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 275
however, that we have never inhabited the planet Mars,
nor are we to leave the earth at some future time to take
up our al)ocle on tlie planet Mercury, as the other work
inontioned states, with the intention of correcting an error
ill the first one.
.Mcrcurv, now heing in obscuration, is exercising very
little influence on us, but it is emerging from a planetary
rest and as time goes on its influence will l)e more and
more in evidence as a factor in our evolution. The coming
Kaces will have much help from the ilercurians, and the
people of still later Epochs and Kevolutions will have even
more.
The Lemuriax Eace.
We are now in a pos;ition to understand the inforuuttion
which is to follow concerning the jicople who lived in the
latter part of the Lemurian Eijoch, whom we may call the
Lemurian Race.
The atmosphere of Lemuria was still very dense — souio-
what like the fire-fog of the ^loon Period, but denser.
The crust of the Earth was just starting to become quite
hard and solid in some places, while in others it was still
fiery, and between islands of crust was a sea of boiling,
seething water. Volcanic outbursts and cataclysms marked
this time when the nether fires fought hard against the
formation of the encircling wall which was to impri-ni\
them.
T^pon the harder and comparatively cool spot^ man lived
suirounded by giant fern-forests and animals of enormous
size. The forms of both man and animal were yet quite
plastic. The skeleton had formed, but man himself had
great power in molding the flesh of his own body and
that of the animals about him.
276 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
When ho was Ijorn ho could hoar and fool, Init his por-
coptidn of liiiht canio hitor. Wo have analogous cases in
animals like oats and dogs, the young of whioli receive
the sense of siglit some time after l)irth. Tin- Lomurian
liad no eyes. He liad two sensitive spots which were
affected ])y the light of the Sun as it shone diiulv tlirougli
the fiery atmosphere of ancient Lemuria, but it was nut
until nearly the close of the Atlantean Epoch that he had
sight as Ave have it today. Up to that time the building of
the eye was in progress. While the Sun was within — while
the Eai'th formed part of the light-giving mass — man
needed no external illuminant; he was luminous himself.
But when the dark Earth was separated from the Sun it
became necessary that the liglit should be perceived, there-
tore as the light-rays impinged upon man, he perceived
them. Nature built the eye as a light-perceiver, in re-
sponse to the demand of the already-existing function,
which is invariably the case, as Professor Huxley has so
ably shown. The amcoba has no stomach, yet it digests.
It is all stomach. The necessity for digesting food l)uilt
the stomach in the course of time, but digestion took place
before tlio alimentary canal was formed. In an analogous
mamior, tlie perception of light called forth the eye. The
light itself built the eye and maintains it. Where there
is no light there can be no eye. In cases where animals
have witlidrawn aiul dwelt in caves — keeping away froin
the light — the eyes have degenerated and atrophied because
there were no light rays to maintain them and no eyes
were needed in the dark caves. The Lemurian needed
eyes; he had a perception of light, and the light was com-
mencing to build the eye in resi)onse to his demand.
His language consisted of sounds like those of Xature.
The sighing of the wind in the immense forests which
EVOLUTION OX THE EARTH 277
grew in great luxuriance in tliat super-tropical climate,
tlio rippling of the brook, the howling of the tempest — for
Lemuria was storm-swept — the thunder of the waterfall,
the roar of the volcano — all these were to him voices of the
Gods from whom he knew himself to have descended.
Of tlie liii'tli of his body he knew nothing. He could
not see either it or anything else, but he did perceive his
fellow-lx'ings. It was, however, an inner perception, like
our ])ercei)tion of })ersons and things in dreams, but with
tliis very important difference, that bis dream-jjercejition
was deal' and rational.
Tbus he kni'W nothing at all al)out liis body, in fact he
did not even know he had a body any more than we know
we have a stomach when that organ is in good health. Wt
remeinljcr its existence only when our abuse of it causes
us to feel pain there. Under normal conditions we are
entirely unconscious of its processes. Similarly did the
])ody of the liCmurian serve him excellently, although he
was unaware of its existence. Pain was the means of
making him aware of his body and of the world without.
h'.verything in connection with the propagation of the
race and the bringing to birth was done by direction of the
Angels under the leadershij) of Jehovah, the Regent of the
^loon. The propagative function was j)crformed at stated
times of the year when the lines of force, running from
planet to planet, were focussed at projier angles. 'I'hus
the creative force encountered no oljstruction and jiarturi-
tion was painless. "Man was unawMi-e of liirlh. Kvause at
that time he was as unconscious of the ])hysical world as
he now is during sleep. It was only in the intiuiate con-
taet of SOX relation that the spirit beeaiue aware of the
flesh and the man ''knew" his wife. '['Iiat is shown in
such passages of the Bible as ''Adam knew Kve and she
278 ROSRRUCIAN COSMO-CONXEPTION
bore Seth" ; "Elkanah kiicir Hannah and she bore Sam-
uel"; and ^[ary's question, "How shall I conceive, seeing
I know no man?" This is also the kov to the meaning
of the "Tree of Knowledge."" the fruit of wliich opened
the eyes of Adam and Eve, so that they came to know l)oth
good and evil. Previously they had known only good,
but when they began to exercise the creative function
independently, they were ignorant of stellar inlluences,
as are their descendants, and Jehovah's supi)osed curse was
not a curse at all, but a simple statement of the result
which must inevitably follow use of the generative force
which failed to take into consideration the effect of the
stellar rays on childbirth.
Thus the ignorant use of the generative force is pri-
marily responsible for pain, sickness and sorrow.
The Lemurian knew no death because when, in the
course of long ages, his body dr(jpi»c(l away, he entered an-
other, quite unconscious of the change. His consciousness
was not focussed in the physical world, therefore the laying
aside of one body and the taking of another was no more
to him than a leaf or twig drying and falling away from
the tree and being replaced by a new giowth.
Their language was to the Lemurians something holy.
It was not a dead language like ours — a mere orderly ar-
rangement of sounds. Each sound uttered by the Lenui-
rian had power over his fellow-beings, over the animals
and even over nature around him. Thei-efore, under the
guidance of the Lords of Venus, who were the messengers
of God — the emissaries of the creative hierarchies — the
power of speech was used with great leverence, as some-
thing most holy.
The education of the Ijoys differed greatly from that of
the girls. The Lemurian methods of education seem
EVOLUTION OX THE EAKTH 279
shoiking to our more refined sensibilities. In order to
siJiU'e the reader's feelings, only the least cruel of tlieni will
be touched upon. Strenuous in the e.xtreme as they iiiav
seem, it must be remembered that the Lemurian body was
not nearly so high-strung as are the human bodies of the
])resent day; also that it was only by the very liarshr~t
measures that tlie exceedingly dim consciousness could be
touched at all. As time went on and the consciousness
bi'came more and more awakened, such extreme measures
as those used then became unnecessaiv and have ])assed
away, but at that time they were indisi)ensable to arouse
the slumbering forces of the spirit to a consciousness (d'
the outside world.
The education of the boys was designed csi)ecially to de-
velop the quality of Will. They were made to fight one
another, and these fights were extremely brutal. Tlu-y
were impaled upon spits, with full ])ower to release them-
selves, l)ut by exercising the will-jjower they were to re-
nuun there in spite of the ])ain. 'J'hey learned to make
their nuiscles tense, and to carry inimense l)\irden< by the
exercise of the Will.
The education of the girls was intended to promote tiie
development of the imaginative faculty. They also weie
subjected to strenuous and severe treatment. They were
put out in the great forests, to let the sound of the wind
in the tree-tops s])eak to them and to listen to the furious
outbursts of flood and tempest. They thus learned to
June no fear of those paroxysms of nature and to perceive
only the grandeur of the warring elements. The freiiuent
volcanic outbursts were greatly valued as a means of edu-
cation, being particularly conduiive to the awakening of
the faculty of menuuy.
Such educational methods wttuld be entirely out of the
280 KOSRKUCIAN COSMO-CO N'CEPTIOX
(luostion at the present day, hut they did not make the
Leniuriaii morhiil, because he had no memory. Xo matter
what painful or terrifying experiences he endured, every-
thing was forgotten as soon as past. Tlie above-mentioned
strenuous experiences were for the purpose of devebiping
memory, to imprint tlicse violent and constantly-repeated
impacts from without u]ion the biiiin, I)(h:ui>i' memory is
necessary tliat tlK>"exi)erienees of the past may be used, as
guides to Ai-lion.
The education of the girls devclopfd the lii'st germinal,
flickering memory. TJie first idea of Good and Evil teas
fonnuhiicd by iliem because of their experiences, which
woi'ked chiefl}^ on the imagination. Those experiences
most likely to leave a recollection were thought "(Jood ;"
those which did not ]n-oduce that much-desired result were
considered '"Evil."
Thus woman l)ecame the pioneer in culture, being the
first to develop the idea of ''a good life," of which she be-
came the esteemed exponent among the ancients and in
that respect she has nobly KhI the vanguard ever since.
Of course, as all Egos incarnate alternatel}' as male and
female, there is really no ])re-emin('nce. It is sim])ly that
tliose who for the time licing are in a dense body of the
feminine gender have a positive vital body, and are tliere-
fore more responsive to spiritual impacts than when the
vital body is negative as in the nuilc.
As we have seen, the Lennirian was a born magician-
lie felt himself a descendant of the Gods, a spiritual l)ein<^:
therefore his line of advancement Avas by gaining not spir-
itual, but material knowledge. The Temples of Initiation
for the most advanced did not need to reveal to man his
Jiigh origin; to educate him to ])erform feats of magic; to
instruct him how to function i)i the desire world and the
EVOLUTION OX THE EARTH 281
liiglier realms. Such instruction is necessary today be-
cause now the average man lias no knowledge of the spir-
itual world, nor can he function in superphysical realms.
The Lenuirian, however, in his own way, did possess that
knowledge and could exercise those faculties, but on tlie
other hand, he Avas ignorant of the Laws of the Cosmos and
of facts regarding the physical world which are matters of
common, everyday knowledge witli us. Therefore at the
School of Initiation he was taught art, the laws of Nature
and facts relating to the physical universe. Ilis will was
strengthened and his inuigination and memory wakened so
that he could correlate exi)eriences and devise ways and
means of action when his past experiences did not serve
to indicate a proper course of procedure. Thus the Tem-
ples of Initiation in the Lemurian times were High
Schools for the cultivation of AVill-power and Imagina-
tion, with "post-graduate courses"' in Art and Science.
Yet, though the Lemurian was a born magician, he never
misused his powers because he felt himself related to the
Gods. Under the direction of the Messengers of the Gods,
already spoken of, his forces were directed toward tiie
molding of forms in the animal and the plant worlds. It
may be hard for the materialist to understand how he
could do such work if he could not see the world about
him. It is tnii' man could not "see" as we understand the
tciin and as he now sees objects outside in space with his
physical eyes. Still, as the purest of our children are
clairvoyant to this day while they remain in a state of
sinless innocence, so the Leiiiuiians, wli(» were yet pure
and innocent, jwssessed an internal ]H'rcei)ti(»n which gave
them onlv a dim idea of the oiiliranl shajie of any object,
but illumined so much the brighter its inner nature, 'i^9
283 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
lioul-quality, l\v a fpiritu.il a|)perception born of innocent
I)urity.
Innocence, however, is not synonymous with Virtue.
Innocence i? tlie chihl of Ignorance and could not l)e main-
tained in a universe where the purpose of evolutiim is t!ie
acquisition of Wisdom. To attain that end, a knowledge
of good and evil, right and wrong, is essential, also choice
of action.
If, having knowledge and choice, man ranges himself on
the side of Good and Right he cultivates Virtue and Wis-
dom. If he succumbs to tcmi^tation and does wrong know-
ingly, he fosters vice.
God's plan is not to be Ijroiight to nauglit, however.
Every act is a seed-ground for the law dL' Conse(iuenee.
We reap Avhat we sow. The weeds of wrong action bear
flowers of sorrow and sull'ering, and when the seeds from
them have fallen into a chastened heart, when they have
been watered by the tears of repentance ^'irtue will event-
ually blossom forth. What blessed assurance, that out of
every evil we do, Good will event\uiliy accrue, for in our
Father's Kingdom nauglit but Ciood can endure.
Therefore the ''Fall" with its consequent pain and suf-
fering is but a temporary state where we see through a
glass darkly, but anon we shall behold again face to face
the God within and without who is ever perceived by the
pure in heart.
The Fall of ]\Iax.
This is cabalistically described as the experience of one
pair who, of course, represent humanity. The key is
given in the verse where the Messenger of the Gods says
to the woman, "in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children ;"
EVOLUTION OX THE EARTH 0^3
the clue is also found in the sentence of death which was
pronounced at that same time.
It will be observed that previous to the Fall the con-
sciousness was not focussed in the physical world. Man
was unconscious of propagation, birth and death. The An-
gels who have charge of and work in the vital body (the
medium of propagation) regulated the propagative func-
tion and brought the sexes togetlier at certain seasons of
the year, using the solar and the lunar forces when they
produced conditions most propitious for fecundation, the
union being achieved unconsciously to the participants at
first, but later it produced a momentary pliysical cognition.
Then the period of gestation caused no inconvenience and
parturition Avas painless, the parent being plunged in deep
sleep. Birth and death involved no break in the conscious-
ness and were therefore non-existent to the Lemurians.
Their conseiousness was directed inward. They per-
ceived physical tilings in a s})iritual way, as we perceive
them in a dream — at wliich time all that we see is within
ourselves.
Wiien ''tlieir eyes were opened" and their consciousness
was directed outward toward the facts of the physical
world, conditions were altered. Propagation was directed,
not by the Angels, but by man, who was ignorant of the
operation of the Sun- and Moon-forces, lie also abused
the sex-function, using it for sense-gratilication, with the
result that pain attended the process of child-bearing.
Then his consciousness became focussed in the physical
worUL, although all things did not apjtear to his vision with
clearly-delined outlines until the latter part of the Atlan-
tean Epoch. Still he came by degrees to know death Ije-
cause of the i)reak made in his consciousness when it was
28^ KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
sliit'tod to the liiiiiuT worlds at death and back to tiie
physical world at rdiirth.
The "opening of the eyes"' was brouglit about in tlie fol-
lowing manner: We remember that when the sexes se])-
arated, the male became an expression for A\'ill, which is
one part of the twofold soul-force; the female exi)ressing
tiie otJier part, Imagination. If woman were not imagina-
tive she could not build tlic new l)ody in the wonili and
were not the spermatozoon an embodiment of the concen-
ti'ated human will, it could not accomplish im])regnation
and so commence the germination, which results in the
continued segmentation of the ovum.
These twin-forces. Will and Imagination, are botli
necessary to the propagation of bodies. Since the separa-
tion of the sexes, however, one of these forces remaing
within each individual and only the part given out is avail-
al)le for propagation. Hence tiie necessity for the one-
sexed being who expresses only one kind of soul-force, to
unite with another, who expresses the complementary soul-
force. This was pi-eviously explained; also that the i)art
of the soul-force not used for propagation becomes avail-
able for inner growth. So long as man sent out the full,
dual sex-force for generation, he could accomplish nothing
in the direction of soul-growth for himself. But since
then the part not used through the sex-organ has been ap-
propriated by the indwelling spirit to build the brain and
the larynx for its expression.
Thus man built on, all through the latter part of the
Lemurian Epoch and the first two-thirds of the Atlantean
Epoch until, by the above-mentioned use of this half of
his sex-force, lie became a fully-conscious, thinking, rea-
soning, being.
In man tlie brain is the link between the spirit and the
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 285
outside world. He can know notliing of the outside world
except through the medium of the brain. The sense-organs
are merely carriers to the brain of impacts from witliout
and the brain is the instrument which interprets and co-
oi-dinates those impacts. The Angels belonged to a dif-
f'Tcnt evolution and liad never been imprisoned in a dense
and cumbrously slow vehicle such as ours. They had
'."arneci tc obtain knowledge without a physical hrain.
'IMieir lowest vehici 'b the vital body. Wisdom came to
them as a gift, wit.ioiit the necessity of laboriously think-
ing it out through a physical brain.
Mail, however, had to "fall into generation,"' and work
for his knowledge. The spirit, by means of one part of
the scx-forcf directed inward, built the brain to gather
knowledge from the pliysical world, and the same forv-^ is
feeding and building the brain today. It is subverted
from its proper course inasmuch as it should have gone
outward for procreation, but man retains it for selfish ])nr-
poses. No so the Angels. They had experienced no di-
vision of their soul-powers, therefore they could send out
the dual soul-force iritliout selfish reservation.
The force that goes outward for the purpose of creating
another being is Love. The Angels sent out their whole
love, without seJfisJniess or ilesire and in return, Cosmic
Wisdom flowed into them.
Man sends out only part of his love; the residue he
selfishly keeps and uses to build his inner organs of ex-
pression, to imjuove himself; thus does his love become
selfish and sensual. With one part of his creative soul-
power he selfishly loves another behig because he desires
co-operation in propagation, ^^'..n the other ]>art of his
creative soul-power he tliiiik- (also for selfish reasons)
because he desires knowledge.
286 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
The Angels love without desire, but man had to go
through sellisliness. lie must desire and work for wisdom
selfishly, that he nu\v reach selflessness at a higher stage.
The Angels helped him to propagate even after the sub-
version of part of tlu' soul-foree. 'J'Ik'v helped him to
build the physical brain, but they had no knowledge that
could be transmitted by means of it. because they did not
know how to use such an iii^ti uineiil and could not speak
directly to a brain-being. All they could do was to con-
trol the physical exj^ression of the love of man and guide
it through the emotions in a loving, innocent way, thus
saving man the pain and trouble incident to the e.xereise
of the sex-function without wisdom.
Had that regime lasted, man woidd have remained
simply a (rod-guided automaton and would never have
become a personality — an individual. That he has be-
come so is due to a much-nurligned class of entities called
the Lucifer .Spirits. *
The Lucifer Spirits.
These spirits were a class of stragglers in the life wave
of the Angels. In the i\roon Period they worked them-
selves far ahead of the great mass of those who are now
the most advanced of our humanity. They have not pro-
gressed as far as the Angels who were the pioneer human-
ity of the Moon, however, hut they were so much in
advance of pur persent humanity that it ^vas impossible for
them to take a dense l)ody as we have done ; yet they could
not gain knowledge without the nse of an inner organ,
a physical brain. They were half-way between man who
has a brain and the Angels who need none — in short, they
were demi-gods.
They were thus in a serious situation. The only way
EVOLUTION OX THE EAETH 287
they could find an avenue tlirough which to oypre?s them-
selves and uain knowledge was to nse man's physical hrain.
as they could make themselves understood hy a physical
being endowed with a brain, which the Angels could not.
As said, in the latter part of the Lemui-ian Kpoch man
did not see the physical world as we do now. To him tl.e
desire world was much more real. lie had the drea'n-
consciousness of the Moon Period — an inner ])icture-con-
sciousness; he was unconscious of the world outside him-
self. The Lucifers had no difficulty in manifesting to
his inner consciousness and calling his attention to his out-
ward shape, which he had not theretofore perceived. Tliev
told him how he could cease being simply the servant of
external powers, and could liecome his own master and
like unto the gods, "knowing good and evil."' They also
made clear to liim that he need have no apprehension if his
body died, inasmuch as he had Avithin himself the creative
ability to form new bodies without the mediation of the
Angels. All of which information was given with the one
purpose of turning his consciousness outward for the
ac(piirement of knowledge.
This the Lucifers did that they might ju'ofit by it
tiiemselves — to gain knowledge as man acquired it. They
brought to him pain and suffering where there was none
before; but they also brought him the inestimable blessing
of emancipation from outside influence and guidance,
thereby starting him on the road to the evolution of his
own spiritual powers — an evolution which will eventually
enabh> him to u])build himself willi wisdom such as that
of tiie Angels and other Beings Who guided him U^fore
he first exercised free will.
Belore man's enlightenment bv iho Lucifer Spiri+a ho
bad not known sickness, pain nor death. All of these
ggy KOWlCKUt IAN COS.MO-COXCEPTION
resulted Iroiu tlie unwise use ui the propagative faculty
and its abuse for the gratification of the senses. Animals
in their wild state are exempt from sickness and pain,
because their propagation is carried on under the care and
direction of the wise group-spirit at only those times of the
year which are propitious to that process. The sex-func-
tion is designed solely for the perpetuation of the species
and under no circumstances for the gratification of sensual
desire.
Had man remained a God-guided automaton, he would
have known no sickness, pain, nor death unto this day ;
but he would also have lacked the brain-consciousness and
independence which resulted from his enlightenment by
the Lucifer Spirits, the "light-givers," who opened the eyes
of his understanding and taught him to use his then dim
vision to gain knowledge of the Physical World which he
was destined to conquer.
From that time there have been two forces working in
man. One force is that of the Angels, who build new
l)eings in the womb by means of the Love which is turned
downward for procreation; they are therefore the perpetu-
ators of the race.
The other force is that of the Lucifers, who are the
instigators of all mental activity, by means of the other
]iart of the sex-force, which is carried upward for work
in the brain.
The Lucifers are also called "serpents'' and arc vari-
ously re])rcsented in different mythologies. More will be
said about them when we come to the anaylsis of Genesis.
For the present enough has been said to warrant us in
pursding the main line of investigation, which leads us to
follow the progress of man's evolution still further, through
the Atlantean and Aryan Epochs, down to the present day.
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 289
What has been said about the enlightenment of the
Leniuriaii.s applies to only a minor poi'tion of those who
lived in the latter part of that Epoch, and who became
the Seed for the Seven Atlantean Race.s. The greater
jiai't of the Lemurians were animal-like ami the forms
iidiabited by them have degenerated into the savages and
anthropoids of the present day.
The student is re<iuested to note carefully that it was
the Forms which degenerated. There is a very important
distinction to be kept in mind between the bodies (or
forms) of a race, and the Egos (or life) which is reborn
in those race-bodies.
When a race is born, the forms are ensouled l)y a cer-
tain group of spirits and have inherent capability of
evolving to a certain stage of completion and no further.
There can be no standing still in nature, therefore when
the limit of attainment has been reached the bodies or
forms of that race begin to degenerate, sinking lower and
lowei' until at last the race dies out.
The reason is not far to seet. New race-bodies are par-
ticularly flexible and plastic, affording great scope for the
Egos who are reborn in them to improve those vehicles
and progress thereby. The most advanced Egos are
brought to birth in such bodies and imi)rove them to the
best of their ability. These Egos, however, are (mly aj)-
prentiees as yet, and they cause the bodies to gradually
crystallize and harden until the limit of improvement of
that particular kind of body has been reached. Then
foi'ms for another new race are ci'cated. to affoi'd the ad-
vancing Egos further scoj)e for moi'c extended experience
and greater develo])ment. They discard the old race-
bodies for the new. tlieir discarded bodies becoming the
habitations foi* le.ss advanced Egos who. in thcii- turn.
10
290 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
use them as stei)])iiij^-stoiies on the path of progi-ess.
Thus the old i-ace-bodies are used by Efjos of hurcasing
inferiority, gradually degerieratiug until at last there are
no Egos low enough to profit by rebirth in such bodies.
The women then become sterile and the ra^-Q-forms die.
We ina>" easily trace this process by certain examples.
The Teutonic-Anglo-Saxon race (])articularly the Ameri-
can bi'anch of it) has a softer and more flexible body and
a moi'e high-strung nei'vous system than any other race
on earth at the present tinu'. The Indian and the Negro
have much hai'der bodies and. because of the duller ner-
vous system, aie much less sensitive to lacerations. An
Indian will continue to fight after receiving wounds the
shock of which would pi'ostrate or kill a white man,
whereas tb.e Iiulian will (piickly I'ecover. The Australian
aborigines or Bushmen furnish an example of a race dy-
ing out on account of sterility, notwithstanding all that
the British governn:ent is doing to ])ei'petuate them.
It has been said by white men against the white race,
that wherever it goes the other ra-ces die out. The whites
have been guilty of feai'ful oi)pression against those other
races, having in many cases massacred multitudes of the
defeu'-eless and unsus])ecting natives — as witness the con-
duct of the Si)aniards towards the ancient Peruvians and
^Mexicans, to specify but one of many instances. The
obligations I'esulting from such l)etrayal of confidence and
abuse of superior intelligence and power will all have to
be paid — yea. to the last, least iota! — l)y those incurring
them. It is ecpially ti'ue. howevei". that even had the
whites not massacred, starved, enslaved, expatriated and
otherwise maltreated those oldei- races, the latter would
nevertheless have died out just as sui-ely. though more
slowly, because such is the Law of l^volution-=-the ())-dev
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH oqj
of Xature. x\t some future time the white rate-tjoclies,
when they hecome inhabited by the Egos who are now em-
bodied in red, black, yellow or brown skins, will have
degenerated so far that they also will disappear, to give
place to other and Ix'tter vehicles.
Science speaks only of evolution. It fails to consider
the lines of Degeneration which are slowly but surely
destroying such bodies as have crystallized beyond possi-
bility of improvement.
The Atlaxteax Epoch.
Volcanic cataclysms destroyed the greater part of the
Lemurian continent and in its stead rose the Atlantean
continent, where the Atlantic Ocean now is.
Material scientists, impelled by the story of Plato to
undertake researches regarding Atlantis, have demon-
strated that there is ample foundation for the story that
such a continent did exist. Occult scientists know that it
existed and they also know that the conditions there were
such as shall now be described.
Ancient Atlantis differed from our present world in
many ways, but the greatest difference was in the consti-
tution of the atmosphere and the water of that Epoch.
From the southern part of the planet came the hot,
fiery breath of the volcanoes wliirh were still abundantly
active. From the north swo])t down the icy blasts of the
Polar region. The continent of Atlantis was the meeting-
place of those two currents, consetiuently its atmosphere
was always filled with a thick and murky fog. The water
was not so dense as now. but contained a greater propdp-
tion of air. ^Tmh water was also held in susj>ension in
the heavy, foggy Atlantean atmosphere.
Through this atmosphere the Sun never clearly shone.
292 EOSICRUCIAN (■OSM()-< ONLEPTION
It appeared to be surrounded Ity an aura of liglit/-mist, as
do street-lani])s wlien seen through a den.se fog. It v?.s
then possible to see only a few feet in any direction and
the outlines of all ohjeets not close at hand appeared
dim, hazy and uncertain. 'Man was guided more by
internal perception tlian Ijy external vision.
Not only the country, l)ut also tlie man of that time
was very different from anything existent on earth at the
present time. He had a lieac^, but scarcely any forehea<l;
his lii-ain had no fiiiiital development; the head sloj)ed
ahnost abruptly 1)ack fi-om a ])oint just above the eyes.
As compared witli our ])i-eseiit humanity, he was a giant;
his arms and legs were much longer, in jiroportion to his
body, than ours. Instead of walking, lie progressed by a
series of flying leaj)?, not unlike those of the kangaroo,
lie had small ])linking eyes and his hair was round in
section. Hie latter ]")eculiarity, if no other, distinguishes
the descendants of the Atlantean races wlio remain with
us at the present day. Their hair was straight, glossy,
black and round in section. That of the Aryan, though
it uuiy differ in color, is always oral in section. The ears
of the Atlantean sat mueh further back u]ion the liead
than do those of the Aryan.
'J'he higher veliides of the early Allanteans were not
drawn into a concentiic position in relation to the dense
body, as are ours. The spirit was not quite an (7/dwelling
spirit; it was ]>ailially outside, therefore could not con-
trol its vehicles with as great facility as though it dwelt
entirely inside. The head of the vital body was outside of
and held a })osition far above the ])hysical head. There
is a point between the eyebrows and al)Out half an inch
below the surface of the skin, which has a corresponding
point in the vital body. ']"his point is not the pitsitary
EVOLUTION' ON THE EARTH 093
body, which lies iiuicli ileej>er iu the head of the dense
body. It might be called "the root of the nose.'' When
these two points in the dense and the vital bodies come into
correspondence, as they do in man today, the trained clair-
voyant sees them as a black spot, or ratiier as a vacant
space, like the invisil)le core of a gas flame. This is the
seat of the indwelling spirit in the man — the Holy of Holies
in the temple of the human body, barred to all Init thai;
indwelling human Ego whose home it is. The trainet'i
clairvoyant can see with more or less distinctness, accord-
ing to his capacity and training, all the diiferent bodic;
wiiich form the aura of man. This spot alone is hidden
from him. This is the *Isis" whose veil none may lift.
Not even the highest evolved being on earth is capable of
unveiling the Ego of the humblest and least developed
creature. That, and that alone u])on earth, is so sacred that
it is absolutely safe from intrusion.
These two points just spoken of — the one in the dense
body and its counterpart in the vital body — were far apart
in the men of the early Atlantean days, as they are in
the animals of our day. 'i'he lu-ad of the horse's vital
body is far outside the head of its dense body. 'J'he two
points are closer together in the dog than in any other
animal except, perhaps, the elephant. When they come into
correspondence we have an animal prodigy, able to count,
spell, etc.
On account of the distance between these two points,
tlie Atlantean's power of perception or vision was much
keener in the inner Worlds than in the dense IMivsieal
World, obscured by its atuiosphcre of thick, heaw fog.
In the fvillness of time, however, the atmosphere sbnvlv
hwanie clearer; at the same time, the point sjKiken of in
the vital body came closi-r and closer to the corresponding
294 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONX'EPTION
point in the dense body. As the two approached each
other, man gradually lost touch with the inner Worlds.
They became dimmer as the dense Physical World beoame
clearer in outline. Finally, in the last third of the At-
lantean Epoch, the point in the vital body was united to
the corresponding point in the dense body. Xot until then
did man lu'como fully awake in the dense Physical Woi'ld ;
but at the same time that full sight and ])orception in the
Physical World were gained, the capability of perceiving
llie inner Worlds was gradually lost to most of the people.
In an earlier time the Atlantean did not clearly per-
ceive the outline of an object or a person, but he saw the
soul and at once knew its attributes, whether they were
beneficial to him or otherwise. He knew whether the man
or animal lie was regarding was kindly or inimically dis-
posed toward him. He was accurately taught by spiritual
])ercei)tion how to deal with others and how to escape
harm, therefore when the Spiritual World gradually faded
from his consciousness^ great was his sorrow at the loss.
The Rmoahals were the first of the Atlantean "Races.
They had but little memory and that little was chiefly con-
nected with sensation. They remembered colors and tones,
and thus to some extent they evolved Feeling. The
Lemurian had entirely lacked Feeling, in the finer sig-
nification of the word. He had the sense of touch, could
feel the physical sensations of pain, ease and comfort, but
not the mental and spiritual ones of joy, sorrow, sympathy
and antipathy.
With memory came to the Atlantoans the rudiments of
a language. They evolved words and no longer made use
of mere sounds, as did the Lemurians. The Emoahals
began to give names to things. They were yet a spiritual
race and, their soul-powers being like the forces of nature,
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 295
Ihey not only named the objects around them, but in their
words was power over tlie things they naine<l. Like the
last of the Lomurians, their Feelings as spirits inspired
them, and no harm was ever done to one another. To
them the language was holy, as the highest direct expres-
sion of the sj)irit. The power was never abused or de-
graded by gossip or small talk. By the use of definite
language the soul in this race first became able to contact
the soul of things in the outside world.
The Tlavatlis were the second Atlantean Race. Already
they began to feci their worth as separate human Ijeings.
They I)ecame ambitious; they demanded that their works
be rememl)cred. Memory became a factor in the life <>f
the community. The remembrance of the deeds done by
certain ones would cause a group of people to choose as
their leader one who had done great deeds. This was the
germ of Royalty.
Tliis remembrance of the meritorious deeds of great
men was canicd even l)eyond the time wlien such leaders
died. !Mankiiul began to lionor the memory of ancestors
and to worship them and others who had shown great
niriit. That was the lieginning of a form of worship
whicli is practiced to tin's day by some Asiatics.
The Toltecs were the third Atlantean Race. They car-
ricil still I'liitlicr the ideas of their predecessors, inaugurat-
ing Monarchy and Hereditary Succession. The Toltecs
oiiginated the custom of honoring men for the deeds done
by their ancestors, but there was then a very good reason
for so doing. Because of the peculiar training at that
time, till' father had the ]iower to bestow his qualities upon
his son in a way impossible to mankind at the present time.
The education consisted of calling up before the send of
the child jtictures of the diiycrcnt nhases of life The con-
296 EOSiCRUCiAN ros:\ro-coxci:PTi(jN
sciousness of the early Atlantean was, as vet, principally
an internal picture-eonstionsness. The power of the edu-
cator to call up these pictures before the sou! of the child
was the determining factor upon which depended the soul-
qualities that would be possessed by the grown man. The
instinct and not the reason was appealed to and aroused,
and by this method of education the son, in the great ma-
jority of cases, readily absorbed the qualities of the father.
It is thus evident that there was at that time good reason
for bestowing honor upon the descendants of great men,
because the son almost alwa^^s inherited most of his father's
good qualities. Unfortunately, that is not the case in our
time, although we still follow the same practice of honor-
ing the sons of great men ; but we have no reason whatever
for doing so.
Among the Toltecs, experience came to be highly valued.
The man who had gained the most varied experience was
the most honored and sought. Memory was then so great
and accurate that our present memory is nothing in com-
parison. In an emergency, a Toltec of wide practical ex-
perience would be very likely to remember similar cases
in the past, and suggest what action should be taken. Thus
he became a valuable adviser to the community when a
situation developed which none of the members had pre-
viously encountered and they were unal)le to think or rea-
son from analogy as to how to deal promptly with the
emergency. When such an individual was not available,
they were compelled to experiment in order to find what
was best to do.
In the middle third of Atlantis we find the beginning
of separate nations. Groups of people who discovered in
one another similar tastes and habits would leave their
old homes and found a new colony. They remembered the
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 097
old customs and followed tlioiii in tlicir new lionies as far
as they suited, forming new ones to meet tlieir own jiar-
ticnlar ideas and necessities.
Tlie Leaders of mankind initiated great Kings at that
lime to rule the people, over whom they were given great
power. The masses honored these kings with all the rever-
ence due to those who were thus truly Kings "hy the grace
of God." This happy state, however, had in it the germ of
disintegration, for in time the Kings became intoxicated
with power. They forgot that it had been put into their
hands by the grace of (iod, as a sacred ti'ust ; that they
were made Kings for the purjiose of dealing justly by and
heli)ing the people. They began to use their power cor-
ruptly, for selfish ends and personal aggrandizement in-
stead of for the common good, arrogating to themselves
privileges and authorities never intended for them. Ambi-
tion and selfishness ruled them and they abused their high,
divinely derived powers, for purposes of oppression and
revenge. This was true, not only of the Kings, but also
of the nobles and the higher classes, and when one con-
siders the power possessed b}'' them over their fellow-
beings of the less developed classes, it is easy to under-
stand that its misuse would bring about terril)le conditions.
The Original Turanians were the fourth Atlantean Race.
They were esjjecially vile in their abominable selfishness.
They erected temples where the Kings were worshiped as
gods, and caused the extreme oppression of the helpless
lower classes. Black magic of the worst and most nauseat-
ing kind flourished and all their elforts wcic directed
towards the gratification of vanity and external display.
The Original Semites Mere the fifth and most important
of the seven Atlantean b'aces. because in them we find the
first germ of the corrective (juality of Tlxnight. Therefore
298 ROSICKUCIAX COSMO CONCEPTION
till' Oi'iginal Soiuitic Kace boc-nnie the "seed-raco" for the
si'M'ii I\ac'es of tlic ])reseiit Aryan Epoch.
In the I'olarian Mpoch man ac(|uii'c(l the dense body as
an instrument of action. Jn the IIyj)erhorean Epoch the
vital body was added to give ]3o\ver of motion necessaiy to
action. In the Leniurian Epoch the desire body furnished
incentive to action.
The mind was given to man in tlie Athmtean Epocli to
give })urpose to action, but as tlie Ego M'as exceedingly
weak ana the desire nature strong, the nascent mind
coalesced with the desire body; the faculty of Cunning re-
sulted and was the cause of all the wickedness of the mid-
dle third of the Atlantean Epoch.
In the Aryan Epoch Thought and Reason were to be
evolved by the work of the Ego in the mind to conduct
Desire into channels leading to the attainment of spiritual
perfection, which is the Goal of Evolution. This faculty
of Thought and of forming Ideas W'as gained by nuui at
the expense of loss of control over the vital forces — i. e.,
power over Nature.
With Thought and Mind man can at present exercise
power over the chemicals and minerals only, for his mind
is now in the first or mineral stage of its evolution, as was
his dense body in the Satui-n ]'eriod. He can exercise no
power over plant or animal life. Wood and various
vegetable substances, together with different parts of the
animals, are used by man in his industries. These sub-
stances are all in tlie final analysis chemical matter en-
souled by mineral life, of which the bodies in all the king-
doms are com}X)sed, as previously ex])lained. Over all these
varieties of chemical mineral combinations num at his
present stage may have dominion, but until he has reached
the .Jupiter Teiiod, that (b)mini()n will not be extended so
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 299
that lie ean work with life. In that Period, however, he
will have the power to work with i)lant life as the Angels
do at present in the Earth Period.
Material seientists have lahored for many years in an
endeavor to "create"' life, hut they will not succeed until
they have learned that they must approach the lahoratory
tal)le with the deepest reverence, as they would draw near
to the altar in a Temple — with purity of heart and with
holy hands, devoid of greed and selfish ambition.
Such is the wise decision of the p]lder Brothers, who
guard this and all the deep secrets of Xature until man
shall be fit to use them for the uplifting of the race — for
the glory of God and not for personal profit or self-ag-
grandizement.
It was, however, this very loss of power over the vital
forces which the Atlanteans sutl'ered that made it possible
for man to evolve further. After that, no matter how great
his selfishness became, it could not prove absolutely de-
structive of himself and of Nature, as would have been the
case had the growing selfishness been accompanied by the
great jxnver possessed by man in his innocent former state.
Thought that works only in man is powerless to command
Nature and can never endanger humanity, as would be
])ossible were Nature's forces under man's control.
The Original Semites regulated tlu-ir desires to some
extent by the mind, and instead of mere desire, came cun-
ning and craftiness — the means by which those jH'ople
sought to attain their selfish ends. Though they were a
very turbulent ])eople, they learned to cuib their ])assions
to a great extent and accomplish their pur])oses by the \ise
of cunning, as being more subtle and potent than mere
brute strength. They were the first to discover that
"brain" is superior to "brawn.''
20V KU«lLKU(JiAN COSMO-COxNCEPTlON
During the existenco of this Eace, the atinosjtliere o{
Athintis coinnienced to clear definitely, and the prQviously-
nicntioncd point in the vital hody eaiiu* into corresi)()ndence
with its c'oni])aninn point in the dense hody. The cond)ina-
tion of events gave man the ahility to see objects clearly
with sharp, well-defined contours; but it also resulted in
loss of the sight pertaining to the inner Worlds.
Thus we see, and it may he well to delinitely state it as
a law: No progress is ever nuule that is md gained at the
cost of some previously possessed faculty, wiiich is later
regained in a higher form.
Man built brain at the expense of the temporary loss of
the power to bring fortli offspring from himself alone. In
order to get the instrument Avherewith to guide his dense
body, he became subject to all the difficulty, sorrow and
pain which is involved in the co-operation necessary to the
perpetuation of the race; he obtained his reasoning power
at the cost of the temporary loss of his spiritual insight.
While reason benefited him in many ways, it shut from
his vision the soul of things which had previously spoken
to him, and the gaining of the intellect which is now man's
most precious j^ossession was at first but sadly contem-
plated by the Atlantean, who mourned the loss of spiritual
sight and power which marked its acquisition.
The exchange of spiritual powers for physical faculties
was necessary, however, in order that man might be able
to function, independent of outside guidance, in the Phys-
ical World which he must concpier. In time his higlier
powers will be regained when, ])y means of his experiences
in his joui-nt'V tliiough the denser Physical W<u](h he has
learned to use them properly. When he ])ossessed them,
he had no knowledge of their proper use, and they were
EVOLUTION OX THE EARTH 301
too precious and too dangerous to be used as toys, with
which to experiment.
Under the guidance of a great Pintity, the Original
Semitic Race was led eastward from the continent of At-
lantis, over Europe, to the great waste in Central Asia
which is known as the Gol)i Desert. There it prepared
them to be the seed of the seven Races of the Aryan Epoch,
imbuing them jiotcntially with the qualities to be evolved
by their descendants.
During all the pievious ages — from the commencement
of the Saturn Period, through the Sun and Moon Periods,
and in the three and one-half Revolutions of the Earth
Period (the Polarian. Hyperborean, Leinurian, and earlier
part of the Atlantean Epochs) — man had been led and
guided by higher Beings, without the slightest choice.
In those days he was unablo to guide himself, not yet hav-
ing evolved a mind of his own ; but at last the time had
come when it was lUK-essaiy for his further development
that he should i)egin to guide liimst'll'. He must learn
independence and assume ies))onsil)ility for bis own actions.
Hitherto he had been compelled to o])ey the conunands of
his Ruler; now his thoughts were to be turned from the
visible Leaders, the Lords from A'enus. whom he wor-
shipped as messeng(M-s from the gods — to the idea of the
true God, the invisible Creator of the System. Man was
to learn to worshi]) and obey the commands of a God h«
could not see.
Their Leader therefore called the ))eople together and
delivered a soul-stiiTing oration, whieb might be tluis ex-
pressed :
Hitherto you have seen Those who led you, but there aie
Leaders of varving giado'^ of splendor, higher than Th'\\.
30-> ROSTCRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Wliom you have not seen, Who guided your every tottering
step in the evolution of consciousnes?.
Exalted above all these glorious Beings stands the invis-
ible God "Who has created the heaven, and the earth upon
which you dwell. He has willed to give you dominion over
all this land, tliat you nuiy he IViiitrul and muUiidy in it.
This invisible God only, must you worship, but you must
Avorship Him in Spirit and in Truth, and not make any
graven image of Him, nor use any likeness to ]iicture TTim
to yourselves, because He is everywhere present, and is
beyond any comjiarison or similitude.
If you follow His precepts. He will bless you abundantly
in all good. If 3'ou stray from His ways, evil will follow.
The choice is yours. You are free; but you must endure
fin' consequences of ijoiir own actions.
The education of man proceeds by four great steps.
First, he is worked upon from without, unconsciously.
Then he is placed under the Kulership of Divine Messen-
gers and Kings Avhom he sees, and whose comnumds he
must obey. Next he is taught to revere the commands of
a God whom he does not see. Finally, he learns to rise
above commands; to become a law unto himself; and, by
r-onquering himself of his own free will, to live in harmony
with the Order of Nature, which is the Law of God.
Fourfold also are the steps by whicli man ilimhs up-
Avard to God.
First, through fear, he worshi]is the God whom lie begins
to sense, sacrificing to propitiate Him, as do the Ictish-
worshipers.
Next, he learns to look to God as the Giver of all things,
and hopes to receive from Him material benefits lure and
now. He sacrifices through avarice, expecting, that the
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 303
Lord will repay an hunt! red fold, or to escape swift punisii-
nieiit by plague, war, etc.
Next, he is taug^it to worship God by i)rayer and the liv-
ing of a good life; and that lie must cultivate faith in a
Keaven where he will be rewarded in the future; and to
abstain from evil that he may escape a future punishment
in Hell.
At last he comes to a ]X)int where he can do right with-
out any thought of reward, bribe, or punishment, but sim-
l)ly because "it is riglit to do riglit." He loves right for
its own sake and seeks to govern his conduct thereby, re-
gardless of present benefit or injury, or of painful results
at some future time.
The Original Semites had reached the second of tiiese
steps. They were taught to worsliip an invisible God and
to expect to be rewarded by material benefits, or punislied
b}' painfu! atllictiDns.
Popular Christianity is at the third step. Esoteric
Christians, and the pupils of all occult schools are trying
to reach the highest step, which will be generally achieved
in the Sixth Epocli, the Xew Galilee, when the unifying
Christian religion will open the hearts of men, as their
understanding is being opened now.
The Akadians were the sixth and tiie Mongolians tlu'
seventh of the Atlantean "Races. They evolved the faculty
of thought still further, Init followed lines of reasoning
which deviated more and more from tlie nuiin trend of tlie
developing life. The Chinese llongolians maintain to this
day that the old ways ;iie the best. Progress constantly
retiuires ni'W methods and ada])tab!iity, keeping ideas in
a fluid state, therefore those races fell behind and are de-
generating, with the renuiin<ler of the Atlantean Ifaces.
As the heavy fogs of Atlantis condensed more and more,
304 EOSICRUCIAN COSMOCONCEPTIOX
the increased quantity ol' water gradually inundated that
continent, destroying tlie greater })art of the population
and the evidences of their civilization.
(ireat numbers were driven from the doomed continent
hy the Hoods, an<l wandered across Europe. The Mon-
golian races are the descendants of those Atlantean refu-
gees. The Xegroes and the savage races with curly liair,
are the last remnants of the Lemurians.
The Akyax Epocil
Central Asia was the cradle of the Aryan Eaces, who
descended from tlie Original Semites. Thence have the
different Kaces gone out. It is unnecessary to describe
them here, as historical researches have sufficiently re-
vealed their main features.
In the present (the Fifth or Aryan) Epoch, man came
to know tlie use of tire and other forces, the divine origin
of which W'as purposely withheld from him, that he might
be free to use tliem for higher purposes or his own devel-
opment. Therefore Ave have in this present Epoch two
classes : One looks upon this Earth and upon man as be-
ing of divine origin ; the other sees all things from a purely
utilitarian viewpoint.
The most advanced among humanity at the beginning of
the Aryan Epoch were given the higher Initiations, that
they might take the place of the messengers of God, i. e.,
the Lords of Yenus. Such human Initiates M'ere from this
time forth the only mediators between God and man. Even
tiiey do not appear publicly nor show any signs and won-
ders that they were Leaders and Teachers. Man was left
entirely free to seek them or not, as he desired.
At the end of our present Epoch the highest Initiate
will appear publicly, when a sufficient number of ordinary
EVOLUTlOxX ON THE EARTH y05
humanity desire, and will voluntarily sul)ject themselves
to such a Leader. Tlicv will thus form the nucleus for tiie
last Kace, which will ai)i)ear at the beginning of the Sixth
Epoch. After that time races and nations will cease to
exist. Humanity will form one s])iritual Fellowship as
before the end of the Lemurian EjKxh.
The names of the Eaces which have sjircad over the
Earth during the Fifth Epoch, up to the present time,
are as follow :
1. — The Arvan. which went soutli to India,
2. — The Babvlonian- Assyrian-Chaldean.
3. — The Persian-Graeco-Latin.
4.— The Celtic.
5, — The Teutonic-Anglo-Saxon (to which we
belong).
From the mixture of the dilferent nations now t:iking
place in the United States will come the "Seed" for the
last Race, in the beginning of the Sixth Epoch.
Two more Races will be evolved in our present Epoch,
one of them being the Slav. When, in the course of a few
hundred years, the Sun, because of the precession of the
etjuinoxes, shall have entered the sign Aquarius, the Rus-
sian people and the Slav Races in general will reach a
degree of spiritual develoi3ment which will advance them
far beyond tneir present condition, ^fusic will be the
chief factor in bringing this about, for on the wings of
music the soul which is attuned may tly to the very
Throne of God, where the mere intellect cannot reach.
Development attiiined in that manner, however, is not
permanent, because it is one-sided, therefore not in har-
mony with the law of evolution, which demands that
development, to be permanent, must be evenly balanced — •
in other words, that s]iirituality shall evolve through, or
30() ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONXEPTIOX
at least equally with, intollect. For this reason tlie Shivic
civilization will he short-lived, hut it will be great and
jovful while it lasts, for it is being horn of deep sorrow
and nntold sulfering, and the law of Compensation will
bring the opposite in due time.
From the Slavs will descend a people which will form
the last of the seven Ibices of the Aryan Epoch, and from
the people of the Ignited States will descend the last of
;ill the Races in this sclu'iiie of evolution, which will run
its course in the beginning of the Si.xtli Epoch.
The Sixtkkn Paths to DKsTitiCTiox.
The sixteen Eaces are called the "Sixteen paths to
destruction" because there is always, in each Race, a
danger that the soul may become too much attached to
the Race: that it nuiy become so enmeshed in Race-cliar-
acteristics it cannot rise above fhe race-idea, and will
therefore fail to advance; that it may, so to speak, crystal-
lize into that Race and consequently be confined to tne
Race-bodies when they start to degenerate, as happened to
the Jews.
Tn Periods, Revolutions, and Epochs where there are
no K'aces, there is nnich more time, and the likelihood oi
becoming fossilized is not so great, nor so frequent. But
the sixteen Races are born and die in such a relatively
shoit time Ihci-e is grave danger that the one who gets too
iiiiKJi attached to conditions may be left behind.
Clirist is the great unifving Leader of tlie Sixth Epoch,
and He enunciated tliis law when He uttered those little-
understood words: "Tf any man come to me, and hate
not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple.
EVOLUTION ON THE EARTH 307
"And whosoever dotli not bear hi? cross, and annc after
me, cannot Ije m}' disciple.
"... whosoever he be of yoii tliat forsaketb not
all that lie hatli, lu' cannot be my disciple."'
Not that we are lo leave, nor nnderestiniate family
ties, but that we are to rise above them. Father and
mother are "bodies"; all relations are part of the Kace —
which belongs to Form. The souls must recognize that
they are not Bodies, nor Eaces, but Egos striving for ]H'r-
fection. If a man forgets this, and identifies himself with
his Race — clinging to it with fanatic patriotism — he is
likely to become enmeshed in and sink with it when liis
com]Teers have passed to greater heights on the Path of
Attainment.
CHAPTER XIII.
Back to the Bible.
IN our age the missionary spirit is strong. The West-
ern churches are sending missionaries all over the
world to conrert the people of every nation to a helicf
in their creeds; nor are they alone in their proselyting
efforts. The East has commenced a strong invasion (tf
Western fields, and many Christians who have become
dissatisfied with the creeds and dogmas taught by the
clergy and impelled to search for truth to satisfy the de-
mands of the intellect for an adequate explanation of th.e
lir()l)lcins of life, have familiarized themselves with, and
ill iiiiuiy cases accepted, the Eastern teachings of Bud-
<lhi 111. Hinduism, etc.
From an occult ]w)int of view, this missionary effort,
whether from Kast to West or vice versa, is not desirable,
because it is contrary to the trend of evolution. The great
Leaders of humanity Who are in charge of our develop-
ment give us every aid necessary to that end. Religion
is one of these aids, and there are excellent reasons why
the Bible, containing not only the one. but both the
Jewish and Christian religions, should have been given
to the West. If we earnestly seek for light w^e shall see
the Supreme Wi>(lotn whicli has given us tliis double
religion and how no other religion of the jiresent day is
suitable to our peculiar needs. To this end we will in this
308
BACK TO THE BIBLE 309
clia])tor toucli again upon teitain j)()int> previously
hrought f)ut in various places and connections.
In the Polarian, llvj^erborean and Ix?innrian Epochs
Ihc task of leading iiunianity was a comparatively easy one.
for man was then witliout mind, but when that disturbing
element came in during the first part of the Atlantean
Epoch, he develoj)ed Cunning, which is the product of the
mind unchecked l)y the spirit. Cunning acts as an aid
to desire, regardless of whether tlie desire is good or bad.
whetlier it will bring Joy or sorrow.
In the middle of the Atlantean Epoch the spirit had
drawn completely into its vehicles and commenced to work
in the Tiiind to produce Thought and Reason: the ability
to trace a given cause to its inevitable effect, and t<>
deduce from a given effect the cause which produced it.
This faculty of Reasoning or Logic was to l^ecome more
fully developed in tlie Aryan Epoch, and therefore the
Original Semites (the fifth race of the Atlantean Epoch)
were a "chosen people/' to bring out that germinal faculty
to such a ripeness that it would be impregnated into the
very fibre of their descendants, wlii> would thus liecome the
Xew Race.
To transmute Cunning into Reason ])roved no easy task.
The earlier changes in man's nature had I)een easily
brought about. He could then be led without difficulty
because he had no conscious desires, nor mind to guide
him, l)ut by the time of the Original Semites he had
becoiiu^ cunning enough to resent limitations of his libertv
and to circumvent repeatedly the measures taken to hold
him in line. The task of guiding him was all the more
diMicult because it was necessary he should have some lil)-
erty of choice; that he might in time learn .«ielf-govprn-
nu'Tit. 'i'lierefore a law was enacted wbicli decreed immC'
310 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
(li(ii( niciirds for ohodioiu-o and ixsttntt pioiishment for
disrof2:ai'tl dI' its provisions. Thus was man taiijrht. coaxed
and cotTccd into I'oasoning in a limited mannei- that "the
way of \]\v I laiisui'cssdi- is hard." and tliat he must ''fear
God/" or tlie Lcadei* Who ^iuided him.
Out of all who were chosen as "seed'' for the new Race,
but few i-i'Hiained faithful. Most of them were rebellious
and. so far as they were concerned, entirely f rustraled the
j)uri)ose of the Lcadei* by interniari-ying with the other
Atlantean Races, thus bi'inging inferioi- blood into their
descendants. That is what is meant in the Bible where
the fact is recorded that the sons of God married the
daughters of men. For that act of disobedience were they
abandoned and "lost.'' Even the faithful died, according
to the l)ody.inthe Desert of (tobi (the"\Viklerness") in
L'cntral Asia, the cradle of our present Race. They were
reborn, as their own descendants of cour.se. and thus in-
hertcd the "Promised Land,'' the Earth as it is now.
They arc the Aryan Races, in whom Reason is being
evolved to pe)'f(>ction.
The rebellious ones who were abandoned are the Jews,
of whom the great majority ai-e still governed more by the
Atlantean faculty of Gunning than by Reason. In them
the race-feeling is so strong that they distinguish only
two classes of people: Jews and Gentiles. They despise
the other nations and are in turn despised by them for
their cunning, selfishness and avarice. It is not denied
that they give to charity, but it is principally, if not ex-
clusively, among their own people and rarely internation-
ally, as was done in the case of the earthquake disaster in
Italy, where barriers of creed, race and nationality were
forgotten in the human feeling of sympathy.
In such cases as that and the San Francisco disaster the
BACK TO THE BIBLE .",11
inner spiritual nature of iiiaii heeoines more in evidence
than under anv other eirrumstames. and the close observer
may then discern the trend of evolution. The fact then
hecoiiics manifest that thnuL:li in the stress of ordinarv life
our actions may tleny it. nevci theless at heart wc know and
acknowledge the irreat truth that we are hi-others and the
liuit i)f one is really felt hy all. Such im-idcnts. therefore,
jxiint out the direction of evolution. The control of man
bv Reason must he succeeded hy that of Love, which at
present act.-< independent of and sonu-tinu's even c-ontrary
to the dictates of Reason. This anomaly arises from
the fact that Love, at present, i- rarely (piite unsidlish
and our lJea.'5on is not always true. In the "N'ew (Jalilee,"
the comiui: Sixth Epoch. Love will hccome nnsellish and
"Reason will approve its dictates. Lniversal Hrotherhood
shall then he fuliv realized, each v.-oi-kinj; for the jrood of
all, because self-seekinir will be a tiling of the past.
That this mnch-to-be-desired end may be attained, it
will k' necessary to select another '"chosen jieople" from
the ])resent stock to serve as a nucleus fi-oni which the
new liace shall sjirinir. This choosintr is not to be done
conliarv to the will of the chosen. Macli man must clioose
for himself; lie must iriUitiijhi enter the raid<s.
Races are but an evanescent f(^ature of exolution. Bt^
fore the end of the i.emurian Mpoch there was a "chosen
people," different from the oidinary hunuinity of that
tinie. who iM'camC the ancestors of the .\tlantean Races.
I'^rom the fifth race of those another "chosen people" was
drawn, from which the Arvan Races descended, of which
there have been five and will be two more. Before a new
l']]ioch is ushered in. however, there must he '"a new heaven
and a new earth": the physical features of the Earth will
be chanired and its densitv decreasi'd. There will W one
312 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Race at the beginning of the next Epoch, but after that
every thought and feeling of Race will disa])pear. Hu-
manity will again constitute one vast Fellowship, regard-
less of all distinctions. Races are simply steps in evolu-
tion which must be taken, otherwise there will be no
progress for the spirits reborn in them. But, though
necessary steps, they are also extremely dangerous ones,
and are therefore the cause of grave concern to the Lead-
ers of mankind. They call these sixteen Races ' ' the six-
teen paths to destruction," because, while in previous
Epochs the changes came after such enormous intervals
that it was easier to get the majority of the entities in
line for promotion, it is different with the Races. They
are comparatively evanescent ; therefore extra care must
be taken that as few of the spirits as y)ossible become en-
meshed in the fetters of Race.
This is exactly Avhat happened to the spirits reborn in
the Jewish Race-bodies. They attached themselves so
firmly to the Race that they are drawn back into it in
successive births. "Once a Jew, always a Jew" is their
slogan. They have entirely foi-gotten their spiritual na-
ture and glory in the material fact of being "Abraham's
seed. ' ' Therefore they are neither ' ' fish nor flesh. ' ' They
have no part in the advancing Aryan Race and yet the^'^
are beyond those renniants of the Lemurian and Atlan-
tean peoples which are still with us. They have become
a people without a country, an anomaly" among mankind.
Because of their bondage to the Race-idea, their one-
time Leader was forced to abandon them, and they became
"lost." That they might cease to regard themselves as
separate from other peoples, other nations were stirred up
against them at various times by the Leaders of humanity
and they were led captive from the country where th€y had
BACK TO THE BIBLE 313
settled, but in vain. Tlio\' stul)l)<)nily refused to amal-
gamate with others. A}i:ain and again they returned in
a body to their arid land. Prophets of theii- own Race
wei'e raised up who mercilessly rebuked them and pre-
dicted dire disaster, but without avail.
As a final effort to persuade them to cast off the fetters
of Race, we have the seeming anomaly that the Leader of
the coming Race, the Great Teacher Christ, appeared
among the Jews. This still further shows the compassion
and Wisdom of the great Beings Who guide evolution.
Among all the Races of the Earth, none other was ''lost"
in the same sense as the Jews; none other so sorely needed
help. To send them a stranger, not one of their own Race,
would have been manifestly useless. It was a foregone
conclusion that they would have rejected him. As the
great spirit known as Booker T. Washington was reborn
among the negroes, to be irceived by them as one of them-
selves, and thus enabled to cidighten them as no wh te man
could, so the great Leaders hoped that the appearance of
Christ among the Jews as one of their own might bring
them to accept Him and His teachings and thus draw
them out of the meshes of the Race-bodies. But sad it is
to see how human prejudice can prevail. "He came unto
His own and" they chose Barabbas. He did not glory in
Abraham, nor any other of their ancient traditions. He
.spoke of "another world," of a new earth, of Love and
Forgiveness, and re])udiated the doctrine of "an eye for
an eye." He did nol call tliem 1(» arms against ('u'sar;
had He done so. they would have hailed Him as a deliv-
oi'ci'. In that i-es])ect He was misunderstood even by His
disciples, who mourned as givatly over their vanished
hope of an earthly kingdom as over the Fi'icnd slain by
Roman hands.
314 ROSICRUCTAN COSMOrONCEPTlON
The rejection of Christ bv tlie Jews was the supreme
proof of their thralhloiii to Kaoe. Thenceforth all efforts
to save them as a whole by giving them special i)rophets
and teachers, were abandoned and, as the futility of exiling
them in a body had been proven, they were, as a last
expedient, scattered among all the nations of the earth.
Despite all. however, the extreme tenacity of this peo])le
has prevailed even to the present day, the majority being
yet orthodox. In America, however, there is now a slight
falling away. The younger generation is commencing to
marry outside the Kace. In time, an increasing number
of bodies, with fewer and fewer of the Eace charactei-istics,
will thus be provided for the incarnating spirits of the
Jews of the past. In this manner will tliey lie saved in
spite of themselves. They became "lost"' by marrying into
inferior Races; they will be saved by amalgamating with
those more advanced.
As the present Aryan Eaces are reasoning iiuman beings,
capable of profiting by past experience, the logical means
of helping them is by telling them of past stages of growth
and the fate that overtook the disobedient Jews. Those
rebels had a written record of how their Leaders had dealt
with them. It set forth how they had been chosen and
rebelled ; were punished : but Avere yet hopeful of ultimate
redemption, 'i'hat record may be profitably used by us,
that we may learn how not to act. It is immaterial that.
in the course of ages, it has become mutilated, and that Ihe
Jews of today ar^ still undei- the delusion of lieinir a
"chosen people"': the lesson thnt mnv be drawn from tli(Mr
experience is none the less valifl. We may learn how a
"chosen people" may harass their Leader, frusti'ate His
plans, and become bound to a Race for ages. Their ex-
perience should be a warning to any future "chosen peo-
BACK TO THE BIBLE 315
pie." This Paul points out in unniistakablo terms (Heb.
ii. 3-4) ; ''For if the word si)oken by anycls was steadfast,
and every transf^i-ession and disobedience received a just
reeom])ense of reward. How shall we escape if we ney:lect
so great salvation?" and Paul was spcakinu- to Chris-
tians, for the Hebrews to whom he wrote this were con-
verted, had accepted Chi'ist and were peoi)le whom he ex-
pected would, in some future life, be among; the new
"chosen ])eople," who would u'U?i}i()l!i follow a ijcader
and evolve the faculty of Love and spiritual perception,
the intuition which shall succeed self -seeking and Reason.
The Christian teaching of the New Testament belongs*
particularly to the pioneer Races of the Western World.
It is being specially implanted among the peoi)le of the
United States, for as the object of the new Race of
the Sixth Epoch will be the unification of all the Races,
the United States is becoming the "melting-pot" where
all the nations of the earth are being amalgamated, and
from this amalgamation will the next "chosen people,''
the nucleus, be chietly dei'ived.
Those si)irits, from all countries of the earth, who have
striven to follow the teachings of the Christ, consciously
oi- otherwise, will be reborn here, for the purjjose of giv-
ing them conditions suitable for that development. Hence
the American-born Jew is different from the Jew of other
countries. The very fact that he has been reborn in the
Western World sh(tws thai he is becoming emancipated
from the Race-s])irit, and is conse(|uently in advance of
the ciystallized Old World oithodox Jew, as were his
parents, or they would not have conceived the idea of s»'v-
ering the old ties and moviny to An\ei-ica. Therefoiv the
Amei'ican-born Jew is the pioneer who will prepaie the
l)ath which his comi»ati-it>ts will follow later.
316 K08l( HUCIAN COSMO (OXCEPTION
Thus wo can see tluit tlie Hilile contains the teaching
peculiarly needed l)v the Western ]ien]iles. that they may he
taught a lesson hy tlie awful exainiile of the Jewish Kace
as recorded in the Old Testament, and learn to live l)y
the teachings of the Christ in the New, willin,<:ly offering
up their hodies as a living sacrifice upon the altar of Fel-
lowship and Love.
1
CHAPTER XIV.
The OccLhT Analy.sis of Genesis,
Liiiiiditiv'is of fill' Bible.
IX our study thus far, jtrc'vious to Chapter XIII. com-
paratively little reference has been made to the Bible,
liut we shall now devote our attention to it for some
time. Xot tiiat it is intended to attempt a vindication of
the Bible (in the form in which it is commonly known
to us at the present day) as the only true and inspired
Word of Ciod, nevertheless it is true that it contains much
valuable occult kno\vlod,<j;e. This is, to a great extent,
hidden beneath interpolations and obscured by the arbi-
trary withholding of certain parts as being "a|K)cry]dial.*'
The occult scientist, who knows the intended meaning,
can, of course, easily see which jxtrtions are original and
which have been interpolated. Yet, if we take the first
cha])ter of Genesis even as it stands, in the best transla-
tions we i)ossess, we shall tind that it iiul'olds tlu' idcntii-al
scheme of evolution which has bicn I'.xplained in the jire-
ceding portion of this woik and harmonizes (piite well
with the occult int'oniiation in regard to Periods, devo-
lutions, Kaces, etc The outlines giv(>n are necessarily
of the briefest and most conden^L■d character, an entire
Period i)eing covered in a score of words — nevertheless, the
outlines are there.
I'x'fnre jyroceeding with an analysis it is necessary to
317
318 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-COXCEPTION
say that the words of the Hebrew language, particularly
the old style, run into one another and are not divided as
are those of our language. Add to this that there is a
custom of leaving out vowels from the writing, so that in
reading much depends npon where and how ihey are
inserted, and it will be seen how great are the diiticultics
to be surmounted in ascertaining the original meaning.
A slight change may entirely alter the signification of
almost any sentence.
in addition to these great difficulties* we must also
bear in mind that of the forty-seven translators of the
King James' version (that most commonly used in Eng-
land and America), only three were Hebrew scholars, and
of those three, two died before the Psalms had been trans-
lated ! We must still further take into consideration that
tlie Act which authorized the translation prohibited the
translators from any rendition that would greatly deviate
from or tend to disturb the already existing belief. It
is evident, therefore, that the chances of getting a correct
translation were very small indeed.
Nor were conditions much more favorable in Germany,
for there Martin Lutlier was the sole translator and vwn
he did not translate from the original Hebrew, but merely
from a Latin text. Most of the versions used in Conti-
nental Protestant countries today are simply translations,
into ths different languages, of Luther's translation.
True, there have been revisions, but they have not
greatly improved matters. Moreover, there is a large nujn-
ber of people in this country who insist that the Engfish
text of the King James voi'sion is absolutely correct from
cover to cover, as though tlie Bible had been originally
written in English, and the King James version were a.
certified copy of the original manuscript. So the old
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENKSJS 319
mistakes are still there, in spite of the eflforts wliicii nave
been made to eradicate tliem.
It must also be noted that those who originally wrote
tlie Bible did noi: intend to give out the truth in such
])lain form that he who ran might read. Nothing was
linther from their thoughts than to write an "open Itook
of God." The great occultists who wrote the Zohar are
very emphatic u})()n this point. The secrets of the Tliorah
were not to be understood by all, as the following quotation
will show:
"Woe to the man who sees in the Thorah (the law)
only simple recitals and ordinary words! Because, if in
tiutii it contained only these, we would even today be able
to compose a Thorah much more worthy of admiration.
But it is not so. p]ach word of the Thorah contains an
elevated meaning and a sublime mystery. , . . The
recitals of tlie Tliorah are the vestments of the Thorah.
A\'oe to hiui who takes this vestment of tlie Thorah for
thf Thor?h itself ! . . . The simple take notice of the
garments and recitals of the Thorah alone. They know
no other thing. They see not that which is concealed
ur.dt-r V'.c Vestment. The wore instructed men do not pnij
alhiilion to tlie rest ihoiI, but to the body wiiich it en-
veloi)s."
In the ])r('ccding words the allegorical meanings are
])]ninly inii)lic(l. I'aul also uiicciuivot-ally says that the
story of .Nbraliaui and the two sons whom he had by Sarah
and llagar is i)uroly allegorical ((Jal. iv :"i'^-'^(i). ^lany
passages arc vcih-d; others are to be taken verliatim ; and
no one who has not the oicult key is al)le to find tiie deep
truth bidden in what is often a very bid( >us garment.
The sccrec-y regarding these tlccp niattcis and tlie in-
variable u^e of allegories where the mass of the people
3^0 ROSICKLJCIAX COSMO-CONCEPTION
wcro pcnnittod to come in c-oiitaet with ocriilt truths will
also be apparent from the i)raelice of Christ, who always
spoke to the multitude in parables, afterward privately
explaining to His discii)les the deeper meaning contained
therein. On several occasions He imposed secrecy upon
them with regard to such private teachings.
Pauls methods «''o also in harmony with this, for he
gives "milk" or the more elementary teaching to the
"babes" in the faith, reserving the "meat" or deeper teach-
ing for the "strong" — those who had qualified themselves
to understand and receive them.
The Jewish Bible was originally written in Hebrew,
but we do not possess one single line of the original writ-
ings. As early as '^80 B. C. the Scptuagint, a translation
into Greek, was brought forth. Even in the time of Christ
there was already the utmost confusion and diversity of
opinion regarding w^hat was to be admitted. as original,
and what had been interpolated.
It was not until the return from the Babylonian exile
that the scribes began to piece together the diflFerent writ-
ings, and not until about 500 A. D. did the Talmud ap-
pear, giving the first text resembling the present one,
which, in view of the foregoing facts, cannot be perfect.
The Talmud was then taken in hand by the Masorete
school, wdiich from 590 to about 800 A. D. was principally
in Tiberias. With great and painstaking labor, a Hebrew
Old Testament was produced, which is the nearest to the
original we have at the ])resent time.
This Masoretic text will be used in the following elucida-
tion of Genesis, and, not relying u])on the work of one
translator, it will be su])])lemented by a German transla-
tion, the work of three eminent Hebrew scholars — H. Am-
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GKXESIS 321
heim, M. Saelis, ami .Jul. l-'urst, who (■()-o|)t,'rato(l with a
fourth, J)r. Zuiiz, thr hitter heiiiif also tlio editor.
In Tin; Bi;c;innixg
The opening sentciue of (it'iiesis is a very good example
of wiiat has l)ecii stated ahout tiie interpretation of tlie
Hehrew text, which may l)e eliani,''ed hy dill'erently phu-ing
the vowels and dividing tiie words in another way.
There are two well-reeognized methods of reading this
sentence. One is: ''In tlie beginning God created tiie
heavens and tlie eartli"; tlie other is: "Out of the ever-
existing essence [of si)ace] the twofold energy formed the
double heaven."
Much has been said and written as to which of these
two interpretations is correct. The difficulty is, that peo-
])le want something settled and definite. They take the
stand that, if a ceitain explanation is true, all others
must he wrong. Hut. eiii[)liati(ally. this is not the way
to get at truth, wliicli is many sidinl and multiplex. Each
occult truth requires examination from many ditferent
])()ints of view; each viewpoint i)resents a certain phase
of the truth, and all of them are necessary to get a com-
plete, delinite coneejitioii of whatever is under considera-
tion.
The very fact that this sentence ami many others in the
vestment of the 'i'h<u'ah can thus he made to yield many
meanings, while confusing to the uninitiated, is illumina-
tive to those who have the key, and the transcendental
wisdom of the wonderful Intelligences \\]u) ins|tii-ed the
Tliorah is thereby shown. Had the vowels been inserted,
and a division made into words, there would have been
only one way of reading it and these grand and sublime
mvsteries could not have been hidden therein. That would
11
322 BOSICEUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
liave been tlio ])r()j»er iiK'thod to ])urs\ie it' the authois had
meant to write an "open"' book of God ; but that was not
their purpose. It was written solely for the initiated,
and can be read understandingly by them only. It would
have required much less skill to have written the book
plainly than to have concealed its meaning. No pains
are ever spared, however, to bring the information, in due
time, to those wlio are entitled to it, while witliholding
it from those who have not yet earned the right to pos-
sess it.
The Nebular Theory.
IJegarded by the light thrown upon the genesis and
evolution of our system, it is plain that both renderings of
the opening sentence in the Book of Genesis are necessary
to an understanding of the subject. The first tells that
tlievo Avas a beginning of our evolution, in which the
heavens were created ; the other interj)retation supplements
the first statement by adding that the heavens and the
earth were created out of the "ever-existing essence/' not
out of "nothing," as is jeeringly pointed out by the ma-
terialist. The Cosmic Koot-substance is gathered together
and set in umtioii. The rings foi-ined by the inertia of the
revolving nuiss brea'k away from the central part, I'oi-ming
planets, etc., as the modern scientist, with remarkable in-
genuity, has reasoned out. Occult and modern science are
m perfect harmony as to the modus operandi. There is
nothing in these statements inconsistent with the two
theories, as will presently be shown. Occult science teaches
that God instituted the process of fornuition and is con-
stantly guiding the System in a definite path. Tlie modern
scientist, in refutation of what be calls a foolish idea, and
to demonstrate that a God is not necessary, takes a basin
OrTULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 323
of water and pmns a little oil into it. The water and tiie
oil represent space and fire-mist res])ectively. He now
conmiences to turn the oil around with a needle, bringing
it into the form of a sphere. This, he explains, repre-
sents the Central Sun. As he turns the oil-Ijall faster and
faster, it bulges at the equator and throws off a ring; tlie
ring breaks and the fragments coalesce, forming a smaller
l)ail, which circles around the central mass as a i)lanet
circles around tlie Sun. Then he pityingly asks the occult
scientist, "Do you not see how it is done? There is no
need for your God, or any supernatural force."
The occultist readily agrees that a Solar System may
be formed in approxinuitely the manner illustrated. But
he marvels greatly that a man possessing the clear in-
tuition enabling him to j^erceive with such accuracy the
operation of Cosmic processes, and the intellect to con-
ceive this brilliant demonstration of iiis monumental
theory, siiould at the same time be quite unable to see
that in his denionstrati(m he himself ploi/s ihe part of
(lutl. flis was tlie cxtiancons power that placed the oil
in the water, where it would have remained inert and
shapeless through all eternity had he not supplied the
force tiiat set it in nmtion, thereby causing it to shape
itself into a i-ei)resentation of Sun and planets, llis was
the Thougiit wliicii designed tiie ex|)eiMment, using the
oil, water and foicc, thus illustrating in a splendid man
ner the 'I'riuiu' (Jod working in Cosniii- substance to form
a Solar System.
The atti'ibutes of Ciod nvv Will. Wisdom, and Activity.
(See diagram G. Note carefully what the name "(Jod"
signifies in this tcrminologv.) The scientist has Will to
make the experiment. Tie has ingenuity to supply ways
and means fnr the dcinnnstration. This inirenuitv ciuro-
3->4 BOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
ppoiitls to Wisdom, the socond attribute of God. He lias
also the iiiustular font' Jiecessary to perform the action,
correj^pondiiiii- to Aciirilij. which is the third attribute of
God.
Further, the universe is not a vast pcrpdual-niotion nia-
cliine, ^vhich, when once set going, keeps on without any
internal cause or guiding force. That also is jtroven by
the experiment of the scientist, for the moment he ceases
to turn the oil-ball the orderly motion of his miniature
planets also ceases and all I'cturns to a shapeless mass of
oil floating on the water. In a corresjxynding manner, the
universe would at once dissolve into "thin s})ace*' if God
for one moment ceased to exert His all-embracing care
and energizing activity.
The second interpretation of Genesis is marvelously exact
in its description of a twofold formative energy. It does
not specifically state that God is Triune. The reader's
knowledge of that fact is taken for granted. It states the
exact truth when it says that only two forces are active in
the formation of a universe.
When the first aspect of the Triune God manifests as
the Will to create, It arouses the second aspect (which is
Wisdom) to design a ]ilan for the future universe. This
first manifestation of Force is Imagination. After this
primal Force of Imagination has conceived the Idea of a
universe, the third aspect (which is Activity), working in
Cosmic substance, produces Motion. This is the second
manifestation of Force. Motion alone, however, is not
sufficient. To form a system of worlds, it must be orderhj
motion. Wisdom is therefore necessary to guide Motion
in an intelligent manner to produce definite results.
Thus we find the opening sentence of the Book of
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS ;i25
(icnesis tells us that in the beginning, orderly, rhythmic
motion, in Cosmic Koot-substance, formed the universe.
The Creative Hierarchies.
The second interpretation of the opening sentence also
gives us a fuller idea of (lod when it speaks of the "two-
fold energy," pointing to tlie positive and negative phases
of the One Spirit of God in manil\'<tation. In harmony
with the teaching of occult science, (iod is represented as
a comj)ositc Being. This is accentuated in the remaining
verses of the chapter.
In addition to the creative Hierarchies wjiich woikcd
voluntarily in our evolution, there are seven others wliieh
belong to our evolution, and are co-workers with (Jod in
the formation of tlie universe. In the first chapter of
Genesis these Hierarchies are called "Klohini." The name
signifies a host of dual or douhle-sexed J-Jeings. The first
part of the word is "Kloh," which is a feminine noun, the
letter "h" indicating tlie gender. If a single feminine Be-
ing were meant, tlie word "Kloh" would have been used.
The feminine ]»lnral is "(»th.'" so iT the intention had been
to indicate a number ot' (Jdds of the t'eininine gender, the
correct word to use would have been "l']looth." Instead of
either of those forms, however, we find the mascvdine,
plural ending, "im," added to the feminine noun, "I'^loh,"
indicating a host of male-t'enuile, double-sexed Beings, ex-
pressions of the dual, ])ositive-negative, creative energy.
The i)lurality of Creators is again im])lied in the latter
})ait of the chapter, where these words are aseiilied to the
Elohim : "Let us make man in "///• image;"" after which
it is inconsistently ad<h'd. '7/'' m;nh' them nude and fe-
male."'
The traiishitiirs liave hcic rciKhicd the puzzling word
32(; Kuyiciu'ciAX cosmi) t unc kptiox
"Elohim"' (which was decidedly not only a plural wuid
but also boUt masculine and feminine) as being the equiva-
lent of tlie singular, sexless word, "God." Yet could they
have done differently, even liad they known ? They were
forbidden to disturb existing ideas. It was not truth at
any price, but peace at any price that King James desired,
his sole anxiety being to avoid any controversy that might
create a disturbance in his kingdom.
The })lural ''them" is also used where the creation of man
is mentioned, clearly indicating that the reference is to
tiie creation of AD]\r, the human species, and not Adam,
the individual.
We liave sliown that six creative TTicraix-liies (besides
the Lords of Flame, the C'iierubim, tlic Scraph-im, and the
two unnamed Hierarchies wliicli have passed into lil)era-
tion ) were active in assisting the virgin spirits which in
themselves form a seventh Hierarchy.
The Cherubim ■;iul the Seraphim had nothing to do
with the creation oT Form; therefore they are not men-
tioned in the (•ha])ter under consideration, which deals
principally with tlie Form-side of Creation. Here we
ilnd mentioned only tlie seven creative Hierarchies which
did the actual work of l)ringing man to where he acquired
a dense physical form, through which the indwelling spirit
could work.
x\fter a description of each part of the work of Creation
it is said : "and Elohim saw that it was good." This is
said seven times, the last time being on the sixth day,
when the human form had been created.
It is stated tliat on the seventh day ''I^lohim rested."
This is all in accord with our occult teaching of the part
taken by each of the creative Hierarchies in the work of
evolution down to the present Period. It is also taught
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 327
that in tliG present Epoch the God? and creative
Hierarchies have withdrawn from active participation, tliat
man may work out his own salvation, leaving the neces-
sary giiidance of ordinary Ininianity to the "Elder
Brothers," who are now tlie mediators between man and
the Gods.
The Saturn Period.
Having satisfied ourselves that the beginning of our
System and the work of the creative Hierarchies, as de-
scribed by occult science, harmonize with the teachings of
the Bible, we will now examine the Bible account of the
dill'erent "Days of Creation" and see how they agree with
the occult teaciiings relative to the Saturn, Sun, and Moon
Periods: the three and one-half Kevolutions of the Eai'th
Period; and the Polnrian, Hyperborean, Lemurian. and
Atlantean Epochs, wliich have preceded the present Aryan
Epoch.
Naturally, a detailed account could not be given in a
few lines like the first chapter of Genesis, but the main
points are there in .)rderly succession, very mmh likr an
algebraical fornmla for Creation.
The second vi-vse proceeds: "The Earth was wa-tr and
uninhabited, and darkness rested upon the face of tlie deep;
and the Spirits of the Elohim floated above tlie deep." In
the beginning of manifestation that which is now the
Earth was in the Saturn Period, and in exactly the condi-
tion described, as may be seen by referring to the descrip-
tions already given of that Period. It was not "without
I'lirm and void." as expressed in the King James version.
li was hot, and thus well-defined and separate from th.e
deep of space, which was cold. ]t is true that it was
dark, but it could he dark and still be hot, for "dark"
328 BOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
heat necessarily precedes glowing or visible heat. Above
this dark Earth of the Saturn Period floated the creative
Hierarchies. They worked \\\x>n it from the outside and
molded it. The Bible refers to them as the "Spirits of the
Elohira."
The Sun Period.
The Sun Period is well described in the third verse,
which says, "And the Elohim said, Let there be Light ;
and there was Light." This passage has been jeered at as
the most ridiculous nonsense. The scornful query has been
put, How could there be light upon the Earth when the
Sun was not made until the fourth day? The Bible nar-
rator, however, is not speaking of the Earth alone. He
is speaking of the central "Fire-mist," from which were
formed the planets of our system, including the Earth.
Thus when the nebula reached a state of glowing heat,
which it did in the Sun Period, there was no necessity
for an outside illuminant; the Light was witliin.
In the fourth verse we read : "The Elohim differentiated
between the light and the darkness." Xecessarily. for the
outside space was dark, in contradistinction to the glow-
ing nebula wliieh existed during the Sun Period
The '^^oo^' Pniaon.
The Moon Period is described in the sixth verse, as fol-
lows: "and Elohim said. Let tliei'e be an r.rimnsion [trans-
lated "fii-mamcnt" in other versions] in the waters, to di-
vide the water from the water." This exactly describes
conditions in the Moon Period, when the heat of the glow-
ing fire-mist and the cold of outside space had formed a
body of water around the fiery core. The contact of fire
and water generated steam, which is water in expansion,
OrrULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 329
as our verse describes. It was dirt'erent from the com-
paratively cool water, which constantly gravitated toward
the hot, fiery core, to rcplaie the outrushing steam, Tims
there was a constant circulation of the water held in sus-
pension, and also an expansion, as the steam, rushing
outward from the fiery core, formed an atmosphere of
"fire-fog" condensed I)y contact with outside space,
icturning again to the core to be reheated and perform
another cycle. Thus there were two kinds of water, and
a division between them, as stated in the Bible. The dense
water was nearest the fiery core; the expanded w'ater or
steam was on the outside.
TliitJ also harmonizes with the scientific theory of mod-
ern times. First the dark heat; then the glowing neliula ;
later the outside moisture and inside heat; and, finallv.
incrustation.
The Earth Pkkiud.
The Earth Period is ne.xt described. Before we take
u]> its description, however, we have to deal with the He-
capitulations. The verses quoted and the descriptions given
will also correspond to tiie recapitulatory Periods. Thus
what is said ot" the Saturn Period describes also the con-
dition of the Systeiu when it emerges from any of the rest
Periods. The des(ri]>tions of the Saturn. S\in. and Mmm
Periods woidd therefore cfu-resjiond to the first three Revo-
lutions of our present Earth Period, and the folhnving
would correspond with conditions on Earth in the present
Revohition.
In the ninth verse, we read: '*.\nd I-^lohim said. \.i-x
the waters be divided from the <lry laud . . . and
Elohini called the dry land Earth." This refers to the
330 EOSICEUCIAN COSMO-CeNCEPTION
first linn intiustation. Hoat and iiioistuiv had generated
the solid lx)dy oi' our present Globe,
llw Pohuian Epoch: The ninth verse, which descrik'S
the Earth Period in this fourth K'evolution (where the
real Earth Period work coninieneed), also describes the
formation of the mineral kingdom and the Recapitulation
1)V man of the mineral stage in the Polarian Epoch. Each
Epoch is also a Recapitulation of the previous stage. Just
as there are Recapitulations of Globes, Revolutions, and
Periods, so there are on each Globe, recapitulations of all
that lias gone before. These Recapitulations are endless.
There is always a spiral within a spiral — in the atom, in
the Globe, and in all other phases of evolution.
Complicated and bewildering as this may appear at
first, it is really not s>< difficult to understand. There is
an orderly method running through it all and in time one
is able to perceive and follow the workings of this method,
as a clue leading through the maze. Analogy is one of the
best helps to an understanding of evolution.
The Hjiperborean Eporli is described in verses 11 to ID,
as the work of the fourth day. It is here recorded that
Eloliim created the plant kingdom, the Sun, the Moon,
and the stars.
The Bible agrees with the teaching of modern science
that ])1ants succeeded the mineral. The difference be-
tween the two teachings is in regard to tlie time when the
Eaith was thrown off from the central mass. Science as-
serts that it was before the formation of any incrustation
which could be called mineral and plant. If we mean
such minerals and plants as we have today, that assertion
is correct. There was no dense material substance, but
nevertheless the first incrustation that took place in the
central Sun was mineral. The Bible narrator gives only
OCCULT ANALYSIS 01«' GENESIS Xjl
the principal incidents. It is not recorded that the in-
crustation melted when it was thrown oH' from thf central
mass as a ring which broke, the fragments afterward
coalescing. In a body as small as our Earth, the time re-
(juired for reerystallization was so comparatively short that
the historian docs not mention it, nor the further sub-
sidiary fact that the melting process took i)lace once more
when the M(^on \\ii> thrown off from tiie Earth. lie jirol)-
ably reasons that one who is entitled to occult information
is already in possession of such minor details as those.
The plants of the incrustation of the central fire-mist
were ethereal, therefore the melting processes did not de-
stroy them. As the lines of force along which the ice
crystals form are present in the water, so when the Eartli
crystallized, were those ethereal plant-forms present in it.
They were the molds which drew to themselves the <lcnsc
material forming the plant-bodies of the present day and
also of the plant-forms of the past, which are embedded
in the geological strata of our Earth globe.
These ethereal plant-forms were aided in their forma-
tion when the heat came from outside, after the separa-
tion of the Earth from Sun and Moon. That heat gave
them the vital force to draw to themselves the denser sul)-
stance.
The Lemiirian h'/iorh is described in the work of the
fifth day. This Epoch, being the third, is in a sense a
Recapitulation of the Moon I'eriod. and in the Biblical
narrative we find described such conditions as obtained in
the Moon Period — water, fire-fog, and the first attempts
at moving, breathing life.
Verses 20 and 21 tell us that "?]lohim said. Let the
"*'aters bring forth life-breathing things . . and
fowl . . . ; and Elohim formed the great amj)liiliianp
332 KOSICKUCJAN COSMO CONCEPTION
aiitl all lilV'-l)ii'atliiiig things according to their species, and
all I'dwl with wings."
This also hannonizos with the teacliing of material sci-
ence that the aniphihians preceded the birds.
Tlie student is invited to note particularly tliat the
tilings that were formed were not Life. It does not say
t-iat Life was created, but "tilings" iJiat breathe or inhale
life. . . . The Hebrew word for that which they in-
hale is nephesh, and it should be carefully noted, as we
shall meet it in a new dress later.
The Atlantean Epoch is dealt with in the work of the
sixth day. In verse 24 the creation of mammals is men-
tioned, and there the word nephesh again occurs, explain-
ing that the mammals "breathed life.'' "Elohim said, Let
the earth biing forth life-breathing things . . . mam-
mals ... ;" and in verse 27, "Elohim formed man
in their likeness; male and female made they [Elohim]
them."
The Bible historian here omits the a-sexual and
iiermaphrodite human stages and comes to the two sepa-
rate sexes, as we know them now. He could not do other-
wise, as he if« describing the Atlantean Epoch, and by the
time that stage in evolution was reached there were neither
sexless men nor hermaphrodites, the diU'erentiation of the
poxes liaving taken place earlier — in the Lemurian Epoch.
That which afterward became man could hardly be spoken
of as man in the earlier stages of its development, as it
dilfcicd but little from the animals. Therefore the Bible
Tianator is doing no violence to facts wlien he states that
man was formed in the Atlantean Ej)och.
In verse 98 (all versions) will be found a very small
prefix, with a very great significance: '"Elohim said. Be
fruitful and EE-plenish the earth." This plainly shows
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 333
that the scribe who wrote it was cognizant of the occult
teaciiing: that the life wave had evolved here, on Globe D
of the Eartii Period, in previous Revolutions.
The Ari/an Epoch corresponds to the seventh day of
Creation, when the Elohim rested from their labors as
Creators and (luides, and humanity liad been launched
ni)on an independent career.
This ends the story of the manner in whicii the Forms
were ])roduced. In the followinir chapter the story is
told from tiie point of view which deals a little more with
the Life side.
Jkhovaii and Ills "Missiox.
There has been much learned discussion concernins: the
discrepancy between, and especially the authorship of, the
creation story of the first chapter and that which starts at
the fourth verse of the second chapter. It is asserted that
the two accounts were written by different men, because
the Being or Beings, tiie name of Whom the translators
have rendered as "(iod" in both the first and second chap-
ters of the English version, are, in the Hebrew text, called
"Elohim" in the first chapteV, and "Jehovah" in the sec-
ond chapter. Jt is argued that the same narrator would
not have named God in two different ways.
Had he nu-ant the same (Jod in both cases, he proi)ably
would not. but he was not a monotheist. lie knew l)ettcr
than to tliink of God as simply a superior Man, using tiie
sk}' for a throne and the eaith for a footstool. When he
wrote of .Tehovah lie mcjiut the Leader Wlio had charge
of the particular ]>art of tiie work of Creation which was
then being described. Jehovah was an<l is one of the Elo-
him. He is the Leader of the Angels wlio were the human-
ity of the Moon, and He is liegent of our i)resent Moon.
334 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Tlio loader is referred in dia<zrain 14 for an accurate under-
standing of tlie position and constitution of deliovali.
As Regent of our Moon, He lias charge of the degen-
erate, evil Beings there, and He also rules the Angels.
"With Him are some of the Archangels, who were the hu-
manity of the Sun. They are called tlie "Race-spirits.''
Jt is tlie ■work of Jehovah to Iniild concrete bodies or
forms, by means of the hardening, crystallizing Moon
forces. Therefore He is the giver of children and the
Angels are His messengers in this work. It is well known
to physiologists that the Moon is connected with gestation ;
at least, they have observed that it measures and governs
the periods of intra-uterine life and other physiological
functions.
The Archangels, as Spirits and Leaders of a Race, are
known to fight for or against a people, as the exigencies
of *the evolution of that Race demand. In Daniel x :20,
an Archangel, speaking to Daniel, says, "And now will I
return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am
gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come."
The Arcliangel Michael is the Race-spirit of the Jews
(Daniel xii:l), but Jehovah is not the God of the Jews
alone; He is the Author of all Eace-religlons ivhich led up
to Christianity. Nevertheless, it is true that He did take
a special interest in the progenitors of the present degen-
erate Jews — the Original Semites, tlie "seed-race" for the
seven races of the Aryan Epoch. Jehovali, of course, takes
special care of a seed-race, in which are to be inculcated
the embryonic faculties of the humanity of a new Epoch.
For tliat reason He was particularly concerned with the
Original Semites. They were His "chosen people" — chosen
to be the seed for a new Race, which was to inherit the
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 335
"Promised Land" — not merely insignificant Palestine, but
tlie entire Earth, as it is at present.
He did not lead them out of Egypt. That story orig-
inated with their descendants and is a confused account
of their journey eastward througli flood and disaster out
of the doomed Atlantis into the "wilderness" (the Desert
of Gobi in Central Asia), there to wander during the
cabalistic forty years, until tliey could enter the Promised
Land. There is a double and peculiar significance to the
descriptive word ''promised" in Ihis connection. The land
was called tlie "promised Land" l)ecause, as land or earth
suitable for human occupation, it did not exist at the time
the "chosen people"' were led into the "wilderness." Pait
of the Earth had been submei-ged by floods and other jnirts
changed by volcanic eruptions, hence it was necessary t!iat
a period of time elapse before the new l']arth was in a
fit condition to l)ec-ome the possession of tlie Aryan Race.
The Original Semites were set apart and forbidden to
nuirry into other tribes or peoples, but they were a stiff-
necked and hard people, being yet led almost exclusively
by desire and cunning, therefore they disobeyed the com-
mand. Their Bible records that the sons of God married
the daughters of man — the lower grades of their Atlantean
compatriots. They thus frustrated the designs of .Tcliovah
and were cast oil', the fruit of such cross-breeding being
useless as seed for the coming Race.
These cross-breeds were the progenitors of the present
Jews, who now speak of "lost tribes." They know that
some of the original number left them and went another
way, but they do not know that those were the few who
remained true. The story of the ten tribes being lost is a
fable. Most of them perished, but the faithful ones sur-
336 ROSrCRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
vived, and tidin tliat faitliful icinnaid have di^sfciided the
present Arvan Eaces.
TJie contention of the opponents of the Bible, that it is a
mere nmtilation of tlie orifjinal writings, is eheerfull_Y
agreed to l)y occult science. Parts of it are even conceded
to be entire fabrications and no attenijit is made to prove
its authenticity as a Avhoh>, in the foi'ni we now liave it.
Tlie present effort is simply an attempt to exhume a few
kernels of occult truth from the bewildering mass of mis-
leading and incorrect interpretations under whicli they
liave been buried by the various translators and icvisors.
IxvoLUTiox, Evolution and Epigexesis.
Having in the foregoing paragraphs disentangled from
the general confusion the identity and mission of Jehovah,
it may be that we can now find harmony in the two seem-
ingly contradictory accounts of the creation of man, as
recorded in the first and second chapters of Genesis, in the
first of which it is written that he was the last, and in the
second that he was the first created of all living things.
"We note that the first chapter deals chiefly with the
creation of Form, the second cliaptcr is devoted to the
consideration of Life, while the filth chapter deals with
Consciousness. The key to the meaning, then, is that we
must differentiate sharply between the physical Form, and
the Life that builds that Foi-m for its own expression. Al-
though the order of the creation of the other kingdoms is
not as correctly given in the second chapter as in the firsts
it is true that if we consider man from the Life side, he
was created first, but if we consider him from the stand-
point of Form, as is done in the first chapter, he was
created last.
All through the course of evolution — through Periods,
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 337
Globes, Revolutionp and I\accp — tliose who do not improve
by the formation of new characteristics are held back and
immediately begin to degenerate. Only that which re-
mains plastic and pliable and ada])ta])le for molding into
new Forms suitable for the expression of the expanding
consciousness; only the Life which is capable of outgrow-
ing the possibilities for improvement inhering in tlie
forms it ensouls, can evolve with the i)ioneers of any life
wave. All else must straggle on behind.
This is the kernel of the occult teaching. Progress is
not pimply unfoldment: not simply Invnlntion and Evolu-
tion. Tiiere is a third factor, making a triad — Involution,
Evolution, and — Kpifjincsis.
The first two wonls arc familiar to all wlio have studied
Life and Form, hut w liih' it is generally admitted that the
involution of spirit into matter takes ])hue in order that
Form nuiy be built, it is not so commonly recognized that
ihc Involution of Spirit runs side by side with the Evolu-
tion of Form.
From the very beginning of the Saturn Period up to the
time in the Atlantean Epoch wlien "man's eyes were
opened" liy tlie Lucifer Spirits, and as a consequence tiie
activities of nuin — or the Life-force which has become man
— were chiefly diieeted inward; that very same force which
he now sends out from himself to build i-ailways. steam-
boats, etc., was used internally in liuilding a vehicle thi'ongh
which to manifest himself. This vehicle is threefold, like
the spirit which built it.
The same power by which man is now improving outside
conditions was used during Involution for ])urpo<«es of in-
ternal growth.
The Form was built by Evolution; the Spirit built and
338 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
entcroc^l it hy I iivolutinii : Imt thr moans for (levisin«; iin-
])r()V(.'!iu'nts is Ei)iji:one.sis.
Thei'o is a strou"' teiulency to rcLrarU all Ihat is. as the
result of something: that has hetii : all iinproveineiits on
previously existing forms, as being present in all forms
as latencies: to regard Evolution as sim])ly the unfolding
of germinal improvements. Such a conception excludes
Epigenesis from the scheme of things. It allows no pos-
sibility for the building of anything new, no scope for
originality.
The occultist believes the purpose of evolution to be the
development of man from a static to a dynamic God — a
Creator. If the development he is at present undergoing
is to be his education and if, during its progress, he is
simply unfolding latent actualities, where does he learn
to CREATE ?
If man's development consists solely in learning to
build better and better Forms, according to nwdds al-
ready existing in his Creator's mind, he can become, at
best, only a good 'hnitutor — never a creator.
In order that he may become an independent, original
Creator, it is necessary that his training should include
sufficient latitude for the exercise of the individual orig-
inality which distinguishes creation from imitation. So
long as certain features of the old Form meet the require-
ments of progression they are retained, but at each re-
birth the evolving Life adds such original improvements
as are necessary foi- its further ex])ression.
The pioneers of science are constantly brought face to
face with Epigenesis as a fact in all departments of
nature. As early as 1759. Caspai- Wolff j)ublished his
"Theoria Generationis, " in which he shows that in the
human ovum there is absolutely no trace of the coming
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 339
organi?m ; that its evolution consipts of tlie addition of mw
formations; a building of something wiiich is not latent
in the ovum.
Haeekel (that great and fearless student of nature as he
sees it, and very near to knowledge of the complete truth
regarding evolution) says of the "Theoria (ienerationis" :
"Despite its small compass and difficult terminology, it is
one of the most valuable works in the whole literature of
biology."'
Hifckel's own views wo find thus stated in liis "An-
thropogenic"': "Nowadays we are hardly justified in call-
ing Kjtigcnesis an hy]X)thesis, as we have fully convinced
ourselves of its being a FACT and are able at any moment
to demonstrate it by the help of the nncrosco])e.'"
A builder would be l)ut a sorry craftsuum were his abili-
ties limited to the building of houses after only one par-
ticular model, whicii, during his ap]>renticesliip. his master
had taught him to imitate, but which he is unable to alter
to meet new requirements. To lie successful he must be
capable of designing new and better houses. im]>i'oving
that which experience teaches was not serviceable in the
earlier buildings. The same force which the builder now
directs outward to build houses better adapted to new
conditions was used in past Periods to build lu-w and bet-
ter vehicles for the evolution of the Ego.
Starting with the simplest organisms, the Life whiiii is
now Man built the Form to suit its necessities. In <l\ie
time, as the entity progressed, it became evident that new
improvements must be added which conflicted with the
lines previously followed. A new start must be given it in
a new species, where it could retrieve any previous mis-
takes which experience taught would preclude further de-
velopment if the old lines were adhered to, and thus the
340 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
evolving life would he enahU'd lo i)i'()jii'ess I'urthoi' in a
new species. When later experience j^roved that the new
form also was inadequate, inasmuch as it could not adapt
itself to some improvement necessary to the ])rogress of
the evolving? life, it too was discarded and still another
departure made, in a form adaptable to the necessary
improvement.
Thus by successive steps does the evolving? Life im-
prove its vehicles, and the improvement is still going on.
Man, who is in the vanguard of progress, has built his
bodies, fi'om the similitude of the amoeba up to the hu-
man form of the savage, and fi-om that up through the
various grades until the most advanced races are now
using the best and most highly organized bodies on
Eai'th. Between deaths and rebirths we are constantly
building bodies in which to function dui'ing our lives and
a far greater degree of efficiency than the present will yet
be reached. If we make mistakes in building between
lives, they become evident when we are using the body in
Eai-th-life. and it is well foi- us if we are able to perceive
and realize our mistakes, that we may avoid making theni
afresh life after life.
But just as the builder of houses would lag commercially
if he did not constantly improve his methods to meet the
exigencies of his business, so those who persistently adhere
to the old forms fail to i-ise above the species and are left
behind, as sti-agglei's. These sti'agglers take the forms
outgrown by the pioneers, as ])reviouslyexi)lained. and they
compose the lower Races and species of any kingdom in
which they are evolving. As the Life which is now ]\Ian
])ass('(l thi'ough stagesanalagous to the mineral, plant, and
animal kingdoms and throuirh the lower human TRaces,
a^ragglers were left all along the way who had failed to
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 341
reacli the necessary standard to keep abreast of the crest-
wave of evolution. Tliey took the discarded Forms of the
pioneers and used them as stepping-stones, l)y means of
which they tried to overtake the others, hut the advanced
Forms did not stand still. In the progress of Evolution
there is no halting-j^lace. In evolving Life, as in cuns-
merce, there is no suth thing as iiicn-h/ '"holding your
own." Progression or Ketrogression is the Law. 'i'lu-
Form that is not capable of further improvement must
Degenei'ate.
Therefore there is one line of improving forms ensouled
by the pioneeis of the evolving Life, and another line of
degenemilnfj forms, outgrown by the pioneer.s, but en-
souled by tlu' stragglers, as long as there are any strag-
glers of that ])arti(uhir life wave to which those forms
originally belonged.
When there are no more stragglers, the species gradually
dies out. The Forms have been crystallized beyond the
possibility of being improved by tenants of increasing in-
ability. They therefore return to the mineral kingdom,
fossilize and are added to the diU'erent strata of tlu' l^artlTs
crust.
The assertion of material science that num has ascended
through the different kingdoms of j)lant and aninuil whieh
exist about us now to anthi'opoid and thenee ti> man, is not
(juite correet. Man has never inhaliited forms ideiitieal
with those of our present-day animals, nor the present-day
anthropoid species; but Iir has iidialiitetl forms whieh were
simihir to but higher tlian those of the ])resent anthroi)oids.
'J'he scientist sees that there is an anatomical likeness
between man and the monkey, and as the evolutionary im-
pulse always makes for im])rovement. he coneludes that man
must have descended from the monkev. but he is always
342 fiOSlCBUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTIOi
balfled in his elTorts to find the ''mipsing link" connecting
the two.
From the })oint whert' the itioiiecrs ol' our life wave (The
Aryan Kace;^) oecupiod aj)L'-like I'ornis, they have progressed
to tlieir ]iros('iit stage of development, wliile the Forms
(wliieh were the "missing link") have degcnernied and are
now ensouled hv the last stragglers of tlie Saturn Period.
The lower monkeys, instead of hcing the progenitors of
the higher species, are stragglers occupying the most de-
generated specimens of Avhat was once the human form.
Instead of man having ascended from the anthropoids, the
reverse is true — the anthropoids have degenerated from
man. Material science, dealing only with Form, has thus
misled itself and drawn erroneous conclusions in this mat-
ter.
The same relative conditions are to he found in the ani-
mal kingdom. The pioneers of the life wave which en-
tered evolution in the Sun Period are our present-day
mammals. The different grades correspond to the steps
once taken by man, but the forms are all degenerating
under the management of the stragglers. Similarly, the
pioneers of the life wave which entered evolution in the
Moon Period are found among the fruit trees, while the
stragglers of that life wave ensoul all other plant-forms.
Each life wave, however, remains definitely confined
within its own borders. The anthropoids may overtake us
and become human beings, but no other animals will reach
our particular ])oint of development. They will reach a
similar stage, hut under difTerent conditions, in the Jupiter
Period. Tlie present jdants will be the humanity of the
Venus I'eriod, under a still greater difference of condition,
and our minerals will reach the Imman stage under the
conditions of the \'ulcan I'eriod.
OCCULT A.NALiiSl;? UF (.iE.NE.Sl:^ 34;j
It will be noted that tiie nioderu evolutiniiarv theory,
particularly that of Hieekel, woukl, it' it were eompletely
reversed, be in almost perfect accord with tiie knowledge
of occult science.
The monkey has degenerated from the man.
The polyps are the last degeneration left behind by the
manunals.
The mosses are the lowest degenerations of the plant
kingdom.
The mineral kingdom is the final goal of the forms
of all the kingdoms when they have reached tlie acme
of degeneration.
A corroboration of this is found in coal, which was once
vegetable or plant foi-nis; also in j)eirified wood and fos-
silized remains of various aninuil forms. Common stone
or rock, which no scifutist would admit had its origin in
another kingdom, is to the occult investigator as truly
mineralized jilants as coal itself. The mineialogist will
learnedly explain that it is composed of liornitK'nde, feld-
spar and mica, but the trained clairvoyant, who can trace
it back in the nu'inory of Nature, through millions of years,
can supplement that statement by adding: Yes. anil that
which you call hornblende and feldspar are the leaves and
stems of prehistoric flowers, and the mica is all that remains
of their petals.
'J'he occult teaching of evolution is also corroborated
by the science of embryology in the ante-natal reca])itula-
tion of all past stages of developnu-nt. The difference l)e-
tween the ovum of a human being and of sonu' of the hiijher
mammals, and even of the higher developments in the plant
kingdom, is indistinguishable, even under the microscope.
E.\j)erts are unal)Ie to tell which is animal and which is
human. Even after several of tlie initial ante-natal stages
344 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
h;ive I)con passed through the experts cannot differen-
tiate between animal and human cmbiyo.
But it" the animal ovum is studied through the entire
])eriod of gestation, it will be observed that it passes
througli the mineral and plant stages only, and is born
when it I'eaehes the animal stage. This is beeause the
Life ensouling such an ovum ]iassed through its mineral
evolution in the Sun Period, its plant life in the Moon
Period, and is now forced to stop at the animal stage in
Ihe Hai'th Period.
On the other hand, the Tvife which uses the human ovum
had its mineral existence in the Saturn Period, its plant
existence in the Sun Period, passed the animal stage in the
Moon Period, has still some scope for Epigenesis after it
has I'cached the animal stage and therefore goes on to the
human — nor does it stop there. The father and mother
give the substance of their bodies for the building of the
child's Ijody, but, particularly in the higher races, Epi-
genesis makes it possible to add something w'hich makes
the child different from the parents.
Where Epigenesis is inactive in the individual, family,
nation or Race — there evolution ceases and degeneration
commences.
A Living Soul?
Thus the two Creation stories harmonize very well.
One deals with P'orm. which was built up through min-
eral, plant and animal and reached the human last.
The other tells us that the Life which now ensouls hu-
man foi'ms was manifested anterior to the Life w^hich
ensouls the forms of the other kingdoms.
One of these accounts of Creation would not have been
sufficient. There are important particulars hidden behind
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GKNKSIS ;145
the narrative of man's creation, in the second cliapter;
the verse reads: ''Then Jehovah formed man from the
(lust of the Earth, and blew into his nostrils the breath
[nephesh], and man became a Ijrcatliiiiii; creature liwphesh
cltayiin]."
In other places in the Kim,' dames version nephesli is
tianslated "life," but in this par<^icular instance (CJen. ii :T)
it is rendered "living soul," thuo ((^nveying the idea that
there was a distinction nuule between the life that ensouled
the human form and that which ensouled inferior creations.
There is no autlu^ity whatever for this ditference in trans-
lation, which is purely arbitrary. The life-breath
(nephesli) is the same in man and beast. This can be
shown even to those who stand tirmly upon the Bible as
authority, for even the King dames version distinctly states
(Eecles. iii :!!>, 20) :"'... as the one dieth, so dietli
the other; yea, they all have one breath InrpJiesh] : so that
a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast: . . . All
go unto one place."
The animals are but our "younger brothers," and though
they are not now so finely organized, they will eventually
reach a state as high as our own, and we shall then ha\e
ascended still higher.
If it is contend:.Hl that man received his soul in the way
described in this seventh verse of the second chapter of
(ieiU'sis, and that be could have received it in no other
way, it is pertinent to ask where and how woman iceeived
her soul ?
The meaning of the chapter, and of the inspiration of
the breath of life by dehovab, is very i)lain and clear when
we use the occidt key, and it has the furthei- and immeiiso
advantage of being higical.
The fact that the Kegent of the Moi.n (.leiio\;in i . with
346 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
Mis Angels and Arilianjids, wore the principals in this
aciion fixes the time whiii this creation occurred. It was
l)etween the early and tiie middle parts of the Lcniurian
Ejioch, and must have been after the Moon was tiirown
out Irom tlie Earth, because Jehovah had nothing to do
with the generation of bodies before the Moon was thrown
off. The forms were then more ethei'eal. There were no
dense and concrete bodies. It is possible to make such
bodies only by means of the hardening and crystallizing
Moon-forces. It nnist have been in the first half of the
Lemurian Epoch, because the separation of the sexes,
which is recorded later, took place in the middle of that
epoch.
At that time iiian-iii-thc-miikiug liad not yet commenced
to breathe by means of lungs. lie had the gill-like ap-
paratus still present in the human embryo while passing
through the stage of ante-natal life corresponding to that
Epoch. He had no warm, icd hlood. for at that stage there
was no individual spirit, the entire form was soft and
pliable and the skeleton soft like cartilage. Before the
later date, when it became necessary to separate humanity
into sexes, the skeleton had grown firm and solid.
The work done by Jehovah was to luiild dense, hard bone
substance into the soft bodies already existing. Previous
to this time, i. e., during the Polarian and Hyperborean
Epochs, neither animal nor man had bones.
AnA:\i'.s TliH.
The grotesque and impossible manner in which the sep-
aration of the sexes is said to have been accomplished (as
described in the common versions of the Bible and, in this
particular case, in the Masorctic text also) is another ex-
ample of what may lie done by changing vowels in the old
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 347
Hebrew text. Read in one way, the word is ''rib**; but in
another, wliich has at least as ^jood a claim to considera-
tion, with the additional advantage of beini; common-sense,
it reads "side." H' we interpret this to mean that man
was male-female and that Jeliovah caused one side or sex
in each being to remain latent, we shall not be doing vio-
lence to our reason, as we would by accepting the ''rib"
story.
When this alteration is made, tlie occult teaching as
j)reviously given harmonizes with that of the Bil>le and l)otli
agree with the teaching of modern science that man was
i)i-sc.\ual at one time, before lie developed one sex at the
expense of the other. In corroboration of this, it is ])ointed
out tiiat the foetus is bi-sexual u}) to a certain point: there-
after one sex predominates, while the other renmins in
abeyance, so that each i)erson still has the opposite sex-
organs in a rudimentary form and therefore is really l)i-
sexual, as was primitive man.
Ajjparently the Bible narrator does not wish to give, in
this second creation account an accurate picture of the
whole of evolution, but rather to particularize a little more
whnt was said in the first chai>ter. lie tells us that nuui
(lid not always breathe as lie does now; that there was a
time when he was not se]>arati'd into sexes; anil that it was
Jehovah Who effected the change, thus fixing the time of
the occurrence. As we pioiced, it will be found that much
further information is given.
rtiAiiDiAX An(;i;i.s.
During the earlier Epochs and Periods the great creative
TTierarchies had worked upon humanity as it was uncon-
sciously evolving. There had been onlv one common con'
348 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
sciousncss among ALL human beings; one group-spirit
for all mankind, as it wvyv.
In the Lemurian Epoch a new step was taken. Bodies
had been delinitely i'ormed, but they must have warm, red
blood before they could be ensouled and become the a])ode
of indwelling spirits.
In nature no process is sudden. ^Ye would get a wrong
idea were we to imagine that air blown into the nostrils
could put a soul into an image of clay and galvanize it into
life as a sentient, tliiiikiiig being.
The individual s})iiit was very weak and impotent and
(|uite unfitted for the task of guiding its dense vehicle.
Jn that respect it is not yet very strong. To any qualified
observer, it is evident that the desire body rules the per-
sonality more than does the spirit, even at our present
stage of advancement. But in the middle of the Lemurian
p]poch, when the lower personality — the threefold body —
was to be endowed with the light of the Ego, the latter,
if left to itself, woTild have been alisolutely powerless to
guide it? instrument.
Therefore it was necessary for some<')ne mueli more highly
evolved to help the individual s})ii-it and liradually prepare
the way for its complete union with its instruments. It
was analogous to a new nation, over which, until it be-
i-omes capalde of loi'iiiing a stable government for itself,
some stronger power establishes a protectorate, guarding it
alike from external dangers and internal indiscretions.
Such a protectorate was exercised over evolving humanity
by the Eace-spirit, and is exercised over the animals by the
group-spirit, in a somewhat diiferent way.
Jehovah is the Most High. He is Race-(iod, as one
might exjiress it, having dominion over all Form. He is
the Chief Kulcr and the hic^hest Power in maintaining the
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 349
form and exercising an orderly government over it. The
Archangels are the K'acc-spirits, each having dominion
over a certain group of people. They also have dominion
over animals, while tlie Angels have dominion over the
plants.
Tlie Archangels ha\c dominion over races or group.- of
people and also over the animals, for these two kingdoms
have desire bodies and the Archangels are expert architects
ol' desire matter, because in the Sun Period the densest
globe was composed of that niatei'ial, and the humanity of
that period, who are now Archangels, learned to build their
densest vehicles of desire stuif as we arc now learning to
I»uild our liodies of llic ( licmical elciucnts whereof our
Kaith-glohe is composed. Thus it will be readily under-
stood that the Archangels are j^eculiarly qualified to help
later life waves tbrougli the stage where they learn to
huild and control a desiiv body.
For analogous reasons the Angels work in the vital
I)odics of man, animal and ]>lant. Their densest boilies
are composed of ether and so was the (ilol)e 1) in the Moon
Period when they were human.
Jehovah and Hi- .\rchangels, therefore, hold a similar
relation to Paces that the grouj^-sjiirit does to aninuds.
When individual members of a I'.ice have evolved entire
self-control and government, tiny are emancipated from
the influence of the Pace-sjtirit and kindred beings.
As we have seen, the point of vantage of the group-spirit,
as of any Ego in the dense body, is in the blood. The
Masoretic text shows that this knowledge was possessed by
the writer of I^cviticus. In the bmrtoenth verse of the
seventeenth cbajiter the Jews are • lohihited from eating
blood because "... the soid of all flesh is in the
blood ... ;'' and in the eleventh verse of the same
350 ROSICRIKTAX COSMOCOXCEPTION
cliajittT wo find these words: *' . . . for the soul of
the flesh is in the hlood . . . tlie blood itself mediates
for the soul," wliieh shows that this applies to hotli man
and l)east, for the word here used in the Hel)re\v is
ncshamah and means "soul" — not "life/' as it is rendered
in the King James version.
Tlie Ego works directly through the blood. The Race-
spirit guides the Races by working in the blood, as the
gioup-spirit guides the animals of its species through the
blood. So also does the Ego control its own vehicle, l)ut
with a diiference.
The Ego operates hy means of the heat of tlie hlood,
while the Race (i. e., tribal, or family) spirit works by
means of the air, as it is drawn into the lungs. That is
why Jeliovah, or His messengers, "breathed into man's
nostrils,'- thereby securing admission for tiie Race-spirit,
Community-spirits, etc.
The different classes of Race-spirits guided their peoples
to vaiious climates and different parts of tiie Earth. To
the trained clairvoyant, a tribal-si)iiit ajjpears as a cloud
enveloping and permeating the atmosi)iiere of the whole
country inliabited by the people undei' its dominion. Thus
are produced the dift'erent peoples and nations. Paul spoke
of "The Prince of the I'ower of the Air"; of "principalities
and powers," etc., showing that he knew of the Hace-spirits,
but now not even an attemj)t is made to understand what
they mean, although their influence is strongly felt. Patriot-
ism is one of tlie sentiments emanating from and fostered
by them. It has not now so much power over people as
formerly. There are some who are being liberated from
the Race-spirit and can say with Thomas Paine, "The
world is my country." There are those who can leave
father and mother and look upon all men as brothers.
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 351
Tliey are being liberated from tbe Family-spirit, or spirit
of tbe Clan, wbicb is different from tbe race-spirit, an
etheric entity. Otbers again, wbo are deep in tbe toils of
the Race- or Family-spirit, will suffer tbe most dn-adful
depression if tbey leave bome or country and breathe tbe
air of anotber Race- or Family-spirit.
At tbe time tbe Race-spirit- entered human bodies tbe
individualized Ego commenced to get some slight control
of its vehicles. Each human entity became more and more
conscious of being separate and distinct from other men,
yet for ages be did not think of himself primarily as an
individual, but as ])elonging to a tribe or a family. The
affix "son" to many ]»roscnt-day s\iiiuuues is a remnant of
this feeling. A man was not simjily ".lohn,'' or "James."
He was John Robcrt^o/j, or James Wiiliam.so//. In^ ?ome
countries a woman was not "^lary,"' or "^lartha."' She was
Mary Marthasdauglitor, ^Fartlia Marysdaughter. Tliis cus-
tom was continued in some European countries until with-
in a few generations of tbe ]iresent time: the "son"' affix
remains with us yet and the family name is still much
honored.
Among tbe Jews, even down to the time of Christ, the
Race-spirit was stronger than the individual spirit. Every
Jew thought of himself first as belonging to a certain tribe
oi- family. His proudest boast was that he was of the
"Seed of Abraham.*' All this was the work of the Race-
spirit.
Previous to the advent of Jehovah, when the Earth was
yet a part of tbe Sun, there was one common group-spirit,
composed of all the creative Hierarchies, wbicb controlled
tbe entire human family, but it was intended that each
body should be tbe temple and jiliable instrument of an in-
35 J ROSUKUCIAN LOSMU-COXCEPTION
dwelling spirit and that meant an infinite division of
rulersiiip.
Jehovah came with His Angels and Archangels and made
the first great division into Eaces, giving to each group the
guiding influence of a Race-spirit — an Archangel. For
each p]go He appointed one of the Angels to act as guardian
until the individual spiiit had grown strong enough to he-
come euumci]iat(.Ml from all outside influence.
Mixing Blood ix Marriage.
Christ came to prepare the way for the emancipation
of humanity from the guidance of the differentiating Kace-
and Family-spirit, and to unite the whole human family
in One Universal Brotherhood.
He taught that "Ahraham's seed'' referred to the hodirs
only,* and called their attention to the fact that before
Abraham lived [the] "I" — the Ego — was in existence. The
threefold individual spirit had its being before all Tribes
and Races and it will remain when they have passed away
and e\en the memory of them is no more.
The threefold si)irit in man, the Ego, is the God within,
whom the personal, bodily man must learn to follow.
'x iierefore did Christ say that, to be His disciple, a man
must forsake all that he had. His teaching points to the
emancipation of the God within. He calls upon man to
exercise his prerogative as an individual and rise above
family, tribe, and nation. Xot that he is to disregard kin
and country. He must fulfill all duties, but he is to cease
identifying himself with part and must recognize an equa.
kinship with all the world. That is the ideal given to
mankind by the Christ.
Under the rule of the Race-spirit, the nation, tribi' or
familv was considered first — the individual last. The fam-
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 353
ily must be kept intact. If any man died without leaving
oti'spring to perpetuate his name, his brother must "carry
seed" to the widow, that there might be no dying out (Deu.
xxv:5-10). Marrying out of the family was regarded
with horror in the earliest times. A member of one tribe
could not become connected with another without losing
caste in his own. It was not an easy matter to become a
inomber of another family. Xot only among the Jews
and other eaily nations was the integrity of the family
insisted upon, but also in more modern times. As previ-
ously mentioned, the Scots, even in comparatively recent
times, clung tenaciously to their Clan, and the old Norse
Vikings would take no one into their families without
first "mixing blood" with him, for the spiritual effects of
hemolysis, which are unknown to material science, were
known of old.
All these customs resulted from the working of the Eace-
and tribal-spirit in the common blood. To admit as a mem-
ber one in whom that common blood did not flow would
have caused "confusion of caste." The closer the inbreed-
ing, the greater the power of the Race-spirit, and the
stronger the ties that bound the individual to tlio tribe,
because the vital force of the man is in his blood. ^lem-
ory is intimately connected with the blood, which is the
highest expression of the vital body.
The brain and the nervous system are the highest ex-
pressions of the desire body. They call up pictures of the
outside world, Init in mental image-making, i. e., imagina-
tion, the blood brings the material for tlu« ))i(.tures ; there-
fore when the thought is active the blood flows to the
head.
When the same unmixod strain of blood flows in the
veins of a family for generation**, the same mental pictures
12
354 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
made by great-grandfather, grandfather and father are re-
produced in the son by the faniily-si)irit which lived in the
liaemaglobin of the blood. He sees himself as the continu-
ation of a long line of ancestors who live in him. He sees
all the events of the past lives of the family as though he
had been present, therefore he does not realize himself as
an Ego. He is not simply "David," but "the son of Abra-
ham'*; not "Joseph," but "the son of David.''
By means of this common blood men are said to have
lived for many generations, because through the blood their
descendants had access to the memory of nature, in which
the records of the lives of their ancestors were preserved.
That is why, in the fifth chapter of Genesis, it is stated
that the patriarchs lived for centuries. Adam, Methuselah
and the other patriarchs did not pcrsonaUi/ attain to such
great age, but they lived in the consciousness of their de-
scendants, who saw the lives of their ancestors as if they
had lived them. After the expiration of the period stated,
the descendants did not think of themselves as Adam or
Methuselah. Memory of those ancestors faded and so it
is said they died.
The "second sight" of the Scotch Highlanders shows
that by means of endogamy the consciousness of the inner
Worlds is retained. They have practiced marrying in the
Clan until recent times ; also in Gipsies, who always marry
in the tribe. The smaller the tribe and the closer the in-
breeding, the more pronounced is the "sight."
The earlier Races would not have dared to disobey the
injunction issued by the tribal God, not to marry outside
of the tribe, nor had they any inclination to do so, for
they had no mind of their own.
The Original Semites were the first to evolve Will, and
they at once married the daughters of the men of other
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 355
tribes, frustrating temporarily the design of their Race-
spirit and being {)roniptly ejected as evil-doers wlio had
"gone a-whoring alter strange gods," thereby rendering
themselves unfit to give the "seed" for tiie seven Races of
our present Aryan Epoch. The Original Semites were, for
the time being, the last Race that the Race-spirit cared to
keep separate.
Later, man was given free will. The time had come
when he was to be prepared for individualization. The
former "common" consciousness, the involuntary clairvoy-
ance or second-sight which constantly held before a tribes-
man the pictures of his ancestors' lives and caused him
to feel most closely identified with the tribe or family,
was to be replaced for a time by a strictly individual con-
sciousness confined to the material world, so as to break
up tiie nations into individuals, that the Brotherhood of
Man regardless of exterior circumstances may oecome a
fact. This is on the same principle that if we have a
number of buildings and wish to make them into one
large structure, it is necessary to break them up into sep-
arate bricks. Only then can the large building be con-
structed.
In order to accomplish this separation of nations into
individuals, laws were given which ])rohil)ite(l endogamy
or marriage in the family and liencefi)rth incestuous mar-
riages gradually came to be regarded with horror. Strange
blood has thus been introduced into all the families of the
Earth and it has gradually wiped out the involuntary clair-
voyance which promoted the clannish feeling and segre-
gated humanity into groups. Altruism is superseding
patriotism, and loyalty to the family is disapj)earini: in
consequence of the mixture of blood.
Science has lately discovered that li;en>olysis results from
356 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
the inoculation of the blood of one individual into the
veins of another of a different species, causing the death
of the lower of the two. Thus any animal inoculated with
the blood of a man dies. The blood of a dog transfused
into the veins of a bird kills the bird, but it will not hurt
the dog to have the bird's blood inoculated into its veins.
Science merely states the fact, the occult scientist gives
the reason. The blood is the vantage ground of the spirit,
as shown elsewhere. The Ego in man works in its own
vehicles by means of the heat of the blood ; the race, family
or community spirit gains entrance to the blood by means
of the air we inspire. In the animals are also both the
separate spirit of the animal and the group-spirit of the
species to which it belongs, but the spirit of the animal is
not individualized and does not work self-consciously with
its veliicles as does the Ego, hence it is altogether domi-
nated by the group-spirit which works in the blood.
When the blood of a higher animal is inoculated into
the veins of one from a lower species, the spirit in the
blood of the higher animal is of course stronger than the
spirit of the less evolved; hence when it endeavors to as-
sert itself it kills the imprisoning form and liberates itself.
When, on the other hand, the blood of a lower species is
inoculated into the veins of a liighor animal, tiie higher
spirit is capable of ousting the less evolved spirit in the
strange blood and assimilating the blood to its own pur-
poses, therefore no visible catastrophe ensues.
The group-spirit always aims to preserve the integrity
of its domain in the blood of the species under its charge.
Like the human Eace-God, it resents the marriage of its
subjects into other species and visits the sins of the fathers
upon the children as we see in the case of hybrids. Where
a horse and a donkey produce a mule for instance, the
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 357
mixture of strange blood destroys the propagative fac-
ulty so as not to perpetuate the hybrid which is an abomi-
nation from the standpoint of the group-spirit, for the
mule is not so definitely under the dominion of the gi-oup-
spirit of the horses or of the group-spii-it of the donkeys
as the pure breed, yet it is not so far away as to be en-
tirely exempt from their influence. If two mules could
mate, their offspi-ing would be still less under the domin-
ion of either of these group-spirits, and so a new s])ecies
WITHOUT A GROUP-SPIRIT would result. That would
be an anomaly in nature, an impossibility until the se]>-
arate animal-spirits should have become sufficiently
evolved to be self-sufficient. Such a species, could it be pro-
duced, would be without the guiding instinct, so-called,
which is in reality the promptings of the group-spirit ; they
would be in an analogous position to a litter of kittens re-
moved from the mother's womb prior to birth. They could
not possibly shift for themselves, so they would die.
Therefore, as it is the group-spirit of the animals that
sends the separate spirits of the animals into embodiment,
it simply withholds the fertilizing seed-atom when ani-
mals of widely differing species are mated. Tt permits
one of its charges to take advantage of an opportunity
for re-embodiment where two animals of nearly the same
nature are mated. Imt refuses to let the hybrids perpet-
uate themselves. Thus we see that the infusion of strange
blood weakens the hold of the gi'()U!)-si)ii-it and that there-
fore it cither destroys the form or the propagative fdc-
ultji whei-e it has the i>ower.
The human spirit is individualized, an Ego. it is evolv-
ing free will and responsibility. It is drawn to birtli
by the irresistible law of ('onse(iuence. so that it is Ix-
yond the power of the race, community or family spirit
358 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
to keep it from returning at the present stage of human
development, and by the admixture of strange blood, by
intermarriage of the individuals of different tribes or
nations, the leaders of man are gradually helping him to
oust the family, tribal or national spirit from the blood,
but with it has necessarily gone the involuntary clairvoy-
ance which was due to its working in the blood, whereby
it fostered the family traditions in its charges, and so we
see that also in the case of inan a faculty was destroyed
hy the mixture of blood. That loss was a gain, however,
for it has concentrated man's energy- on the material
world and he is better able to master its lessons than if he
were still distracted by the visions of the higher realms.
As man becomes emancipated he gradually ceases to
think of himself as "Abraham's Seed," as a "Clan Stew-
art Man," as a "Brahmin" or a "Levite"; he is learn-
ing to think more of himself as an individual, an "I."
The more he cultivates that "Self," the more he frees
himself from the family- and national-spirit in the blood,
the more he becomes a self-sufficient citizen of the world.
There is much foolish, even dangerous, talk of giving up
the Self to the Not-Self ; only when we have cultivated a
"Self/' can we sacrifice ourselves and give up the Self to
the WHOLE. So long as we can only love our own family
or nation we are incapable of loving others. We are bound
by the tie of kin and countiy. When we have burst the
tie of blood and asserted ourselves and become self-suffi-
cient may we become unselfish helpers of humanity. When
a man has reached that stage he will find that, instead of
having lost his own family, he has gained all the families
in the world, for they will have become his sisters and
brothers, his fathers and mothers to care for and help.
Then he will regain the viewpoint of the Spiritual World
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 359
which he lost by the mixing of blood, but it will be a
higher faculty an intelligent, voluntary clairvoyance where
lie can see what he wills and not merely the negative fac-
ulty imprinted in his blood by the family-spirit which
bound him to the family to the exclusion of all other
families. His viewpoint will be universal, to be used for
universal good.
For aforementioned reasons, intertribal, and later inter-
national, marriages came gradually to be regarded as de-
sirable and preferable to close intermarriages.
As man progressed through these stages, and gradually
lost touch with the inner world, he sorrowed over the loss
and longed for a return of the "inner" vision. But by
degrees he forgot, and the material world gradually loomed
up before his mind as the only realit}', until at last he has
come to scout the idea that such inner Worlds exist and
to regard a belief in them as foolish superstition.
The four causes contributing to this condition were:
(1) The clearing of the foggy atmosphere of the At-
lantean continent.
(2) The indrawing of the vital body, so that a point
at the root of the nose corresponds to a similar point in
the vital body.
(3) The elimination of inbreeding and the substitu-
tion therefor of marriages outside the family and tribe.
(4) The use of intoxicants.
The Race-spirits still exist in and work with man, but
the more advanced the nation, the more freedom is given
the individual. In countries where people are most fet-
tered, the Eacc-spirit is strongest. The more in harmony
a man is with the law of Love, and the higher his ideals,
the more he frees himself from the spirit of the Race.
Patriotism, while good in itself, is a tie of the Race-
360 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
spirit. The ideal of Universal Brotherhood, which identi-
fies itself with neither country nor race, is the only path
which leads to emancipation.
Christ came to reunite the separated races in bonds of
peace and good-will, wherein all will willingly and coti-
sciously follow the law of Love.
The present Christianity is not even a shadow of the
true religion of Christ. That will remain in abeyance
until all race-feeling shall have been overcome. In the
Sixth Epoch there will be but one Universal Brotherhood,
under the Leadership of the Returned Christ, but the day
and the hour no man knows, for it is not fixed, but de-
pends upon how soon a sufficient number of people shall
have commenced to live the life of Fellowship and Love,
which is to be the hall-mark of the new dispensation.
The Fall of Man.
In connection with the analysis of Genesis, a few more
words must be said about "The Fall.'" which is the back-
bone and sinew of popular Christianity. Had there been
no "Fall," there would have been no need for the "plan
of salvation."
When, in tiie middle of the Lemurian Epoch, the separa-
tion of the sexes occurred (in which work Jehovah and His
Angels were active), the Ego liogan to work slightly upon
the dense body, building organs within. Man was not at
that time the wide-awake conscious being he is at present,
but by means of half the sex force, he was building a brain
for the expression of thought as previously described. He
was more awake in the Spiritual World than in the physi-
cal; hardly saw his body and was not conscious of the act
of propagation. The Bible statement that Jehovah put
man to sleep when he was to bring forth is correct. There
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 361
was no pain nor trouble connected with childbirth : nor
(because of man's exceedingly dim consciousness of his
physical surroundings) did he know anything of the loss
of his dense body by death, or of his installment in a new
dense vehicle at birth.
It will be remembered that the Lucifers were a part of
the humanity of the Moon Period; they are the stragglers
of the life wave of the Angels, too far advanced to take a
dense physical body, yet they needed an "inner" organ for
the acquisition of knowledge. Moreover, they could work
through a physical brain, which the Angels or Jehovah
could not.
These spirits entered the spinal cord and brain and
spoke to the woman, whose Imagination, as explained else-
where, had been aroused by the training of the I^emurian
Race. As her consciousness was principally internal, a
picture-consciousness of them was received by her, and she
saw them as serpents, for they had entered her brain by
the serpentine spinal cord.
The training of the women included watcliing the peril-
ous feats and fights of the Men in developing Will, in
which fights bodies were necessarily often killed. The dim
consciousness of something unusual set the imagination of
the woman to wondering why she saw these strange things.
She was conscious of the spirits of tliose who had lost their
bodies, but her imperfect sense of the Physical World
failed to reveal tliesc friends whose dense bodies lind been
destroyed.
The Lucifers solved the problem for her by "opening
her eyes." They revealed to her her own body and that of
the man and taught her how, togetlier. they might conquer
death by creating new bodies. Thus death could not touch
them for thev, like Jehovah, could create at will.
362 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Lucifer opened the eyes of woman. She sought the help
of man and opened liis eyes. Thus, in a real though dim
way, they first "knew" or became aware of one another and
also of the Physical World. They became conscious of death
and pain and by this knowledge they learned to differentiate
between the inner man and the outer garment he wears and
renews each time it is necessary to take his next step in
evolution. They ceased to be automatons and ])ecame free
thinking beings at the cost of freedom from pain, sickness
and death.
That the interpretation of the eating of the fruit as a
symbol of the generative act is not a far-fetched idea, is
shown by the declaration of Jehovah (which is not a
curse at all, but simply a statement of the consequences
that would follow the act) that they will die and that the
woman will bear her children in pain and suffering. He
knew that, as man's attention had now been called to his
physical garment, he would become aware of its loss by
death. He also knew that man had not yet wisdom to
bridle his passion and regulate sexual intercourse by the
positions of the planets, therefore pain in childbirth must
follow his ignorant abuse of the function.
It has always been a sore puzzle to Bible commentators
what connection there could possibly be between the eating
of fruit and the bearing of children, but if we under-
stand that the eating of the fruit is symbolical of the gen-
erative act whereby man becomes "like God" inasmuch as
he l-noics his kind and is thus able to generate new beings,
the solution is easy.
In the latter part of the Lemurian Epoch when man
arrogated to himself the prerogative of performing the
generative act when he pleased, it was his then-powerful
will that enabled him to do so. By "eating of the tree
OCCULT ANALYSIS OF GENESIS 363
of knowledge" at any and all times he was able to create
a new body whenever he lost an old vehicle.
We usually think of death as something to be dreaded.
Had man also "eaten of the tree of life," had he learned
the secret of how to ]x?rpetually vitalize his body, there
would have been a worse condition. We know that our
bodies are not perfect today and in those ancient days they
were exceedingly primitive. Therefore the anxiety of the
creative Hierarchies lest man "eat of the tree of life also,"
end become capable of renewing his vital body, was well
founded. Had he done so he would have been immortal
indeed, but would never have been able to progress. The
evolution of the Ego depends upon its vehicles and if it
could not get new and improving ones by death and birth,
there would be stagnation. It is an occult maxim that
the oftener we die the better we are able to live, for evoy
birth gives us a new chance.
We have seen that brain-knowledge, with its concomitant
selfishness, was bought by man at the cost of the power to
create from himself alone. He bought his free will at
the cost of pain and death; but when man learns to use his
intellect for the good of humanity, he will gain spiritual
power over life and in addition, will be guided by an innate
knowledge as much higher than the present brain-conscious-
ness as that is higher than the lowest animal consciousness.
The fall into generation was necessary to build the
brain, but that is, at best, only an indirect way of gaining
knowledge and will be superseded by direct touch with the
Wisdom of Nature, which man. without any co-operation,
will then be able to use for the generation of new bodies.
The larnyx will again speak "the lost Word." the "creative
Fiat," which, under the guidance of great Teachers, was
364
ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
used in ancient Lemuria in tlic creation of plants and
animals.
Man will then be a creator in very truth. Xot in the
slow and toilsome manner of the present day, but by the
•use of the proper word or magical formula, will he be able
to create a body.
All that was manifested during the descending period
of involution remains until the corresponding point on tlie
ascending arc of evolution has \)een reached. The present
generative organs will degenerate and atrophy. The female
organ was the first to come into existence as a separate
unit and, according to the law that "the first shall be
last," will be the last to atrophy. The male organ was
differentiated last and is even now commencing to divide
itself from the body. Diagram 13 will make this clear.
OiA<n)imi3
alrophies
dfropbieS
Q^dttnal UJorld
PART III.
Man's Future Development
and Initiation.
*"^>
O
1
5|? io-
i??
a
y
iQa-
a the
Soul
the
S"^
a"?
^
Minerals will b
e human
CHAPTER XV.
Christ and His Mission.
The Evolution of Religion.
IN the foregoing part of this work we have become
familiar with the way in wliitii our present outside
world came into existence, and how man evolved the
complicated organism with which he is related to outer
conditions. We have also, in a measure, studied the
Jewish Race-religion. We will next consider the last
and greatest of tlie divine measures put forth for the
uplifting of humanity, i. e., Christianity, which will be
the Universal Religion of the future.
It is a notable fact that man and liis religions ' have
evolved side by side and in an c(iiial degree. The earliest
religion of any Race is found to l)e as savage as the people
governed by it and as they become more civilized, their
religions become more and more humane and in harmony
with higher ideals.
From this fact materialists have drawn the inference
that no religion has a higher origin than man himself.
Their investigations into early history have resulted in a
conviction that, as man progressed, he civilized his God
and fashioned Him after his own pattern.
This reasoning is defective, because it fails to take into
account that man is not the body, but an indirclling spirit,
an Ego who uses the body with ever-increasing facility as
evolution progresses.
3G7
368 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
There is no doubt that the law for the body is "The
Survival of the Fittest." The law for the evolution of
the spirit demands "Sacrifice." As long as man believes
that "Might is Eight," the Form prospers and waxes
strong, because all obstacles are swept out of the way re-
gardless of others. If the body were all, that manner of
life would be the only one possible for man. He would be
altogether incapable of any regard for others and would
forcibly resist any attempt to encroach upon what he con-
sidered his rights — the right of the stronger, which is the
sole standard of justice under the law of the Survival of
the Fittest. He would be quite regardless of his fellow-
beings; absolutely insensible to any force from without
that tended to make him act in any manner not conducive
to his own momentary pleasure.
It is manifest, then, that whatever urges man toward a
higher standard of conduct in his dealing with others must
come from within, and from a source which is not identical
with the body, otherwise it would not strive with the body
and often prevail against its most obvious interests. More-
over, it must be a stronger force than that of the body, or
it could not succeed in overcoming its desires and com-
pelling it to make sacrifices for those who are physically
weaker.
That such a force exists, surely no one will deny. We
have come to that stage in our advancement where, instead
of seeing in physical weakness an opportunity for easy
prey, we recognize in the very frailty of another a valid
claim upon our protection. Selfishness is being slowly
but surely routed by Altruism.
Nature is sure to accomplish her purposes. Though
slow, her progress is orderly and certain. In the breast of
every man this force of Altruism works as a leaven. It is-
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 369
transforming the savage into the civilized man, and will in
time transform the latter into a God.
Though nothing that is truly spiritual can be thoroughly
comprehended, yet it may at least be apprehended by means
of an illustration.
If one of two tuning-forks of exactly the same pitch is
struck, the sound will induce the same vibration in the
other, weak to begin with, but if the strokes are continued,
the second fork will give out a louder and louder tone
until it will emit a volume of sound equal to that of the
first. This will happen though the forks are several feet
apart, and even if one of them is encased in glass. The
sound from the smitten one will penetrate the glass and
the answering note be emitted by the enclosed instrument.
These invisible sound-vibrations have great power over
concrete matter. They can both build and destroy. If a
small quantity of very fine powder is placed upon a brass
or glass plate, and a violin bow drawn across the edge, the
vibrations will cause the powder to assume beautiful geo-
metrical figures. The human voice is also capable of pro-
ducing these figures ; always the same figure for the same
tone.
If one note or chord after another be sounded upon a
musical instrument — a piano, or prcierably a violin, for
from it more gradations of tone can be obtained — a tone
will finally be reached which will cause the hearer to feel
a distinct vibration in the back of the lower part of the
head. Each time that note is struck, the vibration will Ix?
felt. That note is the "key-note" of the person whom it so
affects. If it is struck slowly and soothingly it will build
and rest the body, tone the nerves and restore health. If.
on the other hand, it be sounded in a dominant wav, loud
370 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
aiul long enough, it will kill as surely as a bullet from a
pistol.
If we now apply what has lioen said about music or
sound to the problem of how this inner force is awakened
and strengthened, Ave may perhaps understand the matter
better.
In the first place, let us particularly note the fact that
the two tuning-forks were of the same pitch. Had this not
been the case, we might have sounded and sounded one of
them until the crack of doom, but the other one would
have remained mute. Let us understand this thoroughly:
Vibration can be induced in one tuning-fork by one of
like tone only. Any thing, or any being, can be affected as
above stated by no sound except its own key-note.
We know that this force of Altruism exists. We also
know that it is less pronounced among uncivilized people
than among people of higher social attainment, and among
the very lowest races it is almost entirely lacking. The
logical conclusion is that there was a time when it was
altogether absent. Consequent upon this conclusion fol-
lows the natural question: What induced it?
The material personality surely had nothing to do with
it ; in fact, that part of man's nature was much more com-
fortable without it than it has been at any time since.
Man must have had the force of Altruism latent witliin,
otherwise it could not have been awakened. Still further,
it must have been awakened by a force of the same kind —
a similar force that was already active — as the second
tuning-fork was started into vibration by the first after
it was struck.
We also saw that the vil)rations in the second fork be-
came stronger and stronger under the continued impacts of
sound from the first, and that a glass case was no hindrance
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 37I
to the induction of the sound. Under the continued im-
pacts of a force similar to that within him, the Love of
God to man has awakened this force of Altruism and is
constantly increasing its potency.
It is therefore reasonable and logical to conclude that,
at first, it was necessary to give man a religion commen-
surate with his ignorance. It would have been useless
to talk to him, at that stage, of a God Who was all tender-
ness and love. From his viewpoint, those attributes were
weaknesses and he could not have been expected to rever-
ence a God Who possessed what were to him despicable
qualities. The God to Whom he rendered ol)edience must
be a strong God, a God to be feared, a God ^Vho could
hurl the thunder])olt and wield the flail of the lightning.
Thus, man was impelled first to fear God and was given
religions of a nature to further his spiritual well-being
under the lash of fear.
The next step was to induce in him a certain kind of
unselfishness, by causing him to give up part of his worldly
goods — to sacrifice. This was achieved by giving him the
Tribal or Eace-God, Who is a jealous God, requiring of
him the strictest allegiance and the sacrifice of wealth,
which the growing man greatly prizes. But in return, this
Eace-God is a friend and mighty ally, fighting man's liat-
tles and giving him l)ack many fold tlie sheep, bullocks
and grain which he sacrificed. He had not yet arrived at
the stage where it was possil)le for him to understand
that all creatures art' akin, but t]io Tribal (Jod taught
him that he must deal mercifully wiih his hrofhrr frihr.'i-
man and gave laws which made for equity and fair dealing
between men of the same Race.
Tt must not l>e thought that these successive stcjis were
taken easily, nor without rebellion and lapses upon tlie
373 KOSICEUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
part of primitive man. Selfisliness is in<iraiiled in the
lower nature even \mto this day, and there must hdve been
many lapses and mucli backsliding. We have in the Jew-
ish Bible good examples of how man forgot, and had to
be patiently and persistently '"prodded*' again and again by
the Tribal God. Only the visitations of a long-suffering
Kace-spirit were potent, at times, in bringing him back to
the law — that law very few people have even yet learned
to obey.
There are always pioneers, however, who require some-
thing higher. When they become sufficiently numerous, a
new step in evolution is taken, so that several gradations
always exist. There came a time, nearly two thousand
years ago, when the most advanced of humanity were
ready to take another step forward, and learn the religion
of living a good life for the sake of future reward in a state
of existence in which they must have faith.
That was a long, hard step to take. It was compara-
tively easy to take a sheep or a bullock to the temple and
offer it as a sacrifice. If a man brought the first-fruits of
his granary, his vineyards, or his flocks and herds, he still
had more, and he knew tliat the Tribal God would refill
his stores and give abundantly in return. But in this
new departure, it was not a (piestion of sacrificing his
goods. It was demanded that he sacrifice himself. It was
not even a sacrifice to be made by one supreme effort of
martyrdom ; that also would have been comparatively easy.
Instead, it was demanded that day by day, from morning
until night, he must act mercifully toward all. He must
forego selfishness, and love his neigh1)or, as he had been
used to loving himself. Moreover, he was not promised
any immediate and visible reward, but must have faith in
a future happiness.
CHKIST AND HIS MISSION 373
Is it strange that jieople find it difficult to realize this
high ideal of continued well-doing, made doubly hard by
the fact that self-interest is entirely ignored? Sacrifice is
demanded with no positive assurance of anif Tc^vard.
Surely it is much to the credit of humanity that so much
altruism is practiced and that it is constantly increasing.
The wise Leaders, knowing the frailness of the spirit to
cope with the selfish instincts of the body, and the dangers
of despondency in the face of such standards of conduct,
gave another uplifting impulse when they incorporated in
the new religion the doctrine of "vicarious Atonement."
This idea is scouted by some very advanced philosophers,
and the law of "Consequence" made paramount. Tf it so
ha{)])ens tliat the reader agrees with these philosophers,
we request that he await the explanation herein set t'orth.
showing how hoik are i)art of the scheme of upliftment.
Suffice it to say, for the present, that this doctrine of
atonement gives many an earnest soul the strength to
strive and, in spite of repeated failures, to luring the lower
nature under .subjection. I^et it be remembered that, for
reasons given when the laws of Rebirth and Consequence
were discussed, western humanity knew practically noth-
ing of these laws. With such a great ideal l)efore thom
as the Christ, and believing they had but a few short years
in which to attain to such a high degree of development as
this, would it not have iK'cn the greatest imaginable cruelty
to leave them without help? Therefore, the GREAT SAC-
ETFICE on Calvary — while it also served other ]nirposes.
as will be shown — became rightfully the Beacon of Hope
for every earnest soul who is striving to achieve the impos-
sible ; to attain, in one short life, to the perfection
demanded bv the Christian religion.
374 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Jesus and Christ-Jesus.
To gain some slight insight into the Great Mystery of
Golgotha, and to understand tlie Mission of Christ as the
Founder of the Universal Eeligion of the future, it is
necessary that we first become familiar with His exact
nature and incidentally, with that of Jehovah. Who is the
head of such Race-religions as Taoism, Buddhism, Hindu-
ism, Judaism, etc. ; also with the identity of "The Father,"
to Whom Christ is to give up the Kingdom, in due time.
In the Christian creed occurs this sentence: "Jesus
Christ, the only begotten Son of God." This is generally
understood to mean that a certain person "WTio appeared
in Palestine about 2,000 years ago. Who is spoken of as
Jesus Christ — one separate individual — was the only be-
gotten Son of God.
This is a great mistake. There are three distinct and
widely different Beings characterized in this sentence. It
is of the greatest importance that the student should clearly
understand the exact nature of these Three Great and
Exalted Beings — differing vastly in glory, yet each entitled
to our deepest and most devout adoration.
The student is requested to turn to diagram 6 and note
that "The only begotten" ("The Word," of WHiom John
speaks) is the second aspect of the Supreme Being.
This "Word," and It alone, is "begotten of His Father
rthe first aspect] before all Worlds." "Without Him was
not anything made that was made," not even the third
aspect of the Supreme Being, which proceeds from the
two previous aspects. Therefore the "only begotten" is
the exalted Being which ranks above all else in the Uni-
verse, save only the Power-aspect which created It.
The first aspect of the Supreme Being "thinks out," or
imagines, the Universe before the beginning of active
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 375
manifestation, everything, including the million? of Solar
Systems and the great creative Hierarchies which inhabit
the Cosmic Planes of existence above the seventh, which is
the field of our evolution (See diagram 6). This is also
the Force which dissolves everything that has crystallized
beyond the possibility of further growth and at last, when
the end of active manifestation has come, reabsorbs within
Itself all that is, until the dawn of another Period of
Manifestation.
The second aspect of the Supreme Being is that which
manifests in matter as the forces of attraction and cohe-
sion, thus giving it the capability of combining into Forms
of various kinds. This is "The Word," the "creative
Fiat/' which molds the primordial Cosmic Root-substance
in a manner similar to the formation of figures by musical
vibrations, as previously mentioned, the same tone always
producing the same figure. So this great primordial
"WOIW brought, or "spoke," into being, in finest nuitter,
all the different Worlds, with all their myriads of Forms,
which have since been copied and worked out in detail by
the innumerable creative Hierarohies.
"The Word" could not have done tliis, however, until
the third asjiect of the Sui)reme r>eing had first ])re|)ared
tlie Cosmic Root-substance: had awakened it from its nor-
nuvl state of inertia and srt tlie countless iiiseparatc atoms
sjiiiniing upon their axes. ])lacing those axes at various
angles with respect to each other, giving to each kind a cer-
tain "measure of vil)iation."
These varying angles of inclination of the axes and the
measures of vibration made the Cosmic Root-substance
capable of forming dilTercnt combinations, which arc the
bases of the seven great Cosmic Pianos. There is. in each
of these Planes, a different declination of the axes, and
376 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
also a different measure of vibration, consequently the con-
ditions and combinations in each one are different from
those in any of the others, due to the activity of "The
Only Begotten."'
Diagram 14 shows us that:
*'The Father" is the highest Initiate among the humanity
of the Saturn Period. The ordinary humanity of
that Period are now the Lords of Mind.
"The Son" (Christ) is the highest Initiate of tlie Sun
Period. The ordinary humanity of that Period are
now the Archangels.
''The Holy Spirit" (Jehovah) is the highest Initiate of
the Moon Period. The ordinary humanity of that
Period are now the Angels.
This diagram also shows what are the vehicles of these
different orders of Beings, and upon comparison with
diagram 8, it will be seen that their bodies or vehicles
(indicated by squares on diagram 14) correspond to the
Globes of the Period in which they were human. This is
always the case so far as the ordinary humanities are
concerned, for at the end of the Period during which any
life wave becomes individualized as human beings, those
beings retain bodies corresponding to the Globes on which
they have functioned.
On the other hand, the Initiates have progressed and
evolved for themselves higher vehicles, discontinuing the
ordinary use of the lowest vehicle when the ability to use a
new and higher one has been attained. Ordinarily, the
lowest vehicle of an Archangel is the desire body, but
Christ, Who is the highest Initiate of the Sun Period,
ordinarily uses the life spirit as lowest vehicle, functioning
as consciously in the World of Life Spirit as we do in the
Physical World. The student is requested to note this
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378 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
point particularly, as the World of Life Spirit is the first
tinivcrsnl World, as explained in the chapter on Worlds.
It is the World in which differentiation ceases and unity
begins to bo realized, so far as our solar system is con-
cerned.
Christ has power to build and function in a vehicle as
low as the desire body, such as is used by the Archangels,
but He can descend no further. The significance of this
will be seen presently.
JesiLs belongs to our humanity. When the man, Jesus,
is studied through the memory of nature, he can be
traced back life by life, where he lived in different cir-
cumstances, undei" various names, in different embodi-
ments, the same, in that resi)ect. as any other human be-
ing. This cannot be dune with the Being, Christ. In His
c-dse can he found hut one emhodiment.
It must not be supposed, however, that Jesus was an
oi'dinary individual. He was of a singularly pure type
of mind, vastly superior to the great majority of our
present humanity. Through many lives had he trod the
Path of Holiness and thus fitted himself for the greatest
honor ever bestowed u]>on a human being.
His mother, the Virgin Mary, was also a type of the
highest human ])urity and because of that was selected to
become the mother of Jesus. His father was a high Ini-
tiate, virgin, and capalile of ])erforming the act of fecun--
dation as a sacrament, without personal desire or passion.
Thus the beautiful, pure and lovely spirit whom we
know as Jesus of Nazareth was liorn into a pure and pas-
sionless body. This body was the best that could be pro-
duced on Earth and the task of Jesus, in that embodiment,
was to care for it and evolve it to the highest possible
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 379
decree of efficiency, in preparation for the great purpose
it was to serve.
Jesus of Nazareth was born at about the time stated in
the historic records, and not 105 B. C, as stated in some
occult works. The name Jesus is common in the East,
and an Initiate named Jesus did live 105 B. C, but he
took the Egyptian Initiation, and was not Jesus of Naza-
reth, with whom we are concerned.
The Individual who was later born under the name of
('hristian Rosenkreuz, who is in the body today, was a
highly evolved being when Jesus of Nazareth was born.
His testimony, as well as the results of first-hand investi-
gation by later Rosicrucians, all agree in placing the birth
of Jesus of Nazareth at the beginning of the Christian
Era, on about the date usually ascribed to that event.
Jesus was educated by the Essenes and reached a very
high state of spiritual development during the thirty
years in which he used his body.
It may here be said, parenthetically, that the Essenes
were a third sect which existed in Palestine, besides the
two mentioned in the New Testament — the Pharisees and
the Sadducees. The Essenes were an exceedingly devout
order, widely different from the materialistic Sadducees
and entirely opposite to the hypocritcal, publicity seek-
ing Pharisees. They shunned all mention of themselves
and their methods of study and worshi]). To the latter
peculiarity is due the fact that almost nothing is known
of them, and that they are not mentioned in the New
Testament.
It is a law of the Cosmos that no Being, however high,
can function in any world without a vehicle built of the
material of that world (See diagrams 8 and 14). There-
fore the desire body was the lowest vehicle of the group of
380 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
spirits who had reached tlie Iniman ptage in the Sun
Period.
Christ was one of those spirits and was consequently un-
able to build for Himself a vital body and a dense physical
vehicle. He could have worked upon humanity in a desire
body, as did His younger brothers, the Arcliangels, as
Eace-spirits. Jehovah had opened an avenue for them to
enter the dense body of man by means of the air he in-
lialed. All Eaco-religions Avere religions of law, and cre-
ators of sin through disobedience of that law. They were
under the direction of Jehovah, Whose lowest vehicle is the
human spirit, correlating Him to the World of Abstract
Thought, where everything is separative and therefore
leads to self-seeking.
That is precisely the reason why the intervention of
Christ became necessary. Under the regime of Jehovah
unity is impossible. Therefore the Christ, Who possesses
as a lowest vehicle the unifying life spirit, must enter
into the dense human body. He must appear as a man
among men and dwell in this body, because only from
within is it possible to conquer the Race-religion, which
influences man from without.
Christ could not be horn in a dense body, because He
had never passed through an evolution such as the
Earth Period, therefore He would first have had
to acquire the ability to build a dense body such as
ours. But even had He possessed that ability, it would
have been inexpedient for such an exalted Being to ex-
pend for that purpose the energy necessary for body-
building through ante-natal life, childhood and youth, to
bring it to sufficient maturity for use. He had ceased
to use, ordinarily, vehicles such as would correspond to our
human spirit, mind and desire body, although He had
learned to build them in the Sun Period, and retained the
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 3gl
ability to build and function in them whenever desired
or required. He used all his own vehicles, taking only
the vital and dense bodies from Jesus. When the latter
was 30 years of age Christ entered these bodies and used
them until the climax of His Mission on Golgotha. After
the destruction 5i tlie dense body, Christ appeared among
His disciples in the vital body, in which He functioned for
some time. The vital body is tiie vehicle which He will
use when He appears again, for He will never take another
dense body.
It is encroaching upon a subject to be dealt with later
to remark that the object of all esoteric training is to so
work on the vital body that the life spirit is built up and
quickened. When we come lo deal with Initiation it may
be possible to give more detailed explanations, l)nt no more
can be said on the subject just now. In chronicling the
events incident to post morion existence, this subject has
been partially dealt with and the student is here asked to
note that a man is supposed to have conquered his desire
liody to a considerable extent before attempting esoteri-
cism. His esoteric training and the earlier Initiations are
devoted to work on the vital body and result in the build-
ing of the life spirit. At the time Christ entered the body
of Jesus, the latter was a disciple of high degree, conse-
quently his life spirit was well organized. Therefore, the
lowest vehicle in which Christ functioned, and the best
organized of the higher vehicles of Jesus, were identical ;
and Christ, when He took the vital body and the dense
body of Jesus, was thus furnished with a complete chain
of vehicles bridging the gap between the World of Life
Spirit and tlic dense Physical World.
The significance of the fact that Jesus had passed sev-
eral initiations lies in the effect that has on the vital body.
382 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Jesus' vital body was already attuned to the high vibra-
tions of the life spirit. An ordinary man's vital body
would have instantly collapsed under the terrific vibra-
tions of the Great Spirit who entered Jesus' body. Even
that body, pure and high-strung as it was, could not
withstand those tremendous impacts for,<many years, and
wiien we read of certain times when Christ withdrew
temporarily from his disciples, as when he later walked
on the sea to meet them, the esotericist knows that he
drew out of Jesus' vehicles to give them a rest under the
care of the Essene Brothers, who knew more of how to
treat such vehicles than Christ did.
This change was consummated with the full and free
consent of Jesus, who knew during this entire life that
he was preparing a vehicle for Christ. He submitted
gladly, that his brother humanity might receive the gi-
gantic impetus which was given to its development by
the mysterious sacrifice on Golgotha.
Thus (as shown in diagram 14) Christ Jesus possessed
the twelve vehicles, which formed an unbroken chain
from the Physical World to the very Throne of God.
Therefore He is the only Being in the Universe in touch
with both God and man and capable of mediating be-
tween them, because He has, personally and individually,
experienced all conditions and knows every limitation
incidental to physical existence.
Christ is unique among all Beings in all the seven
Worlds. He alone possesses the twelve vehicles. None
save He is able to feel such compassion, nor so fully un-
derstand the position and needs of humanity ; none save
He is qualified to bring the relief that shall fully meet
our needs.
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 383
Thus do W3 know the nature of Clirist. He is the high-
est Initiate of the Sun Period and He took the dense and
vital bodies of Jesus that He might function directly in
the Physical World and appear as a man among men.
Had He appeared in a manifestly miraculous manner, it
would have been contrary to the scheme of evolution, be-
cause at the end of the Atlantean Epoch humanity had
been given freedom to do riglit or wrong. That ttiey miglit
learn to become self-governing, no coercion whatever could
be used. They must know good and evil through experi-
ence. Before that time they had been led willy-nilly, but
at that time they were given freedom under the different
Race-religions, each religion adapted to the needs of its
particular Tribe or Nation.
XoT Peace but a Sword.
All Eace-religions are of the Holy Spirit. They are in-
sufficient, because they are based on law, which makes for
sin and brings death, pain and sorrow.
All Race-spirits know this, and realize that their reli-
gions are merely steps to sometiiing better. This is shown
by the fact that all Race-religions, without exception, point
to One Who is to come. The religion of tiie Persians
pointed to Mithras; of the Chaldeans to Tammuz. The
old Norse Gods foresaw the approach of ''The Twilight
of the Gods," when Sutr, the bright Sun-spirit, shall super-
sede them and a new and fairer order be established on
"Gimle," the regenerated earth. The Egyptians waited
for Horus, the new-born Sun. Mitliras and Tammuz are
also symlxilized as Solar orbs and all the principal Temples
were built facing the East, that the rays of the rising
Sun might shine directly through the open doors; even
Saint Peters at Rome is so placed. All these fact? show
384 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
that it was generally known tliat the One Who was to
come was a Sun-spirit and was to save humanity from
the separative influences necessarily contained in all Eace-
religions.
These religions were steps which it was necessary for
mankind to take to prepare for the advent of Christ. Man
must first cultivate a "self" before he can become really
iinsellish and understand the higher phase of Universal
Brotherhood — unity of purpose and interest — for which
Christ laid the foundation at His first coming, and which
He will make living realities when He returns.
As the fundamental principle of a Race-religion is sep-
aration, inculcating self-seeking at the expense of other
men and nations, it is evident that if the principle is car-
ried to its ultimate conclusion it must necessarily have
an increasingly destructive tendency and finally frustrate
evolution, unless succeeded by a more constructive religion.
Therefore the separative religions of the Holy Spirit
must give place to the unifying religion of the Son, which
is the Christian religion.
Law must give place to Ijovc, and the separate Eaces and
Nations be united in one Universal Brotherhood, with
Christ as the Eldest Brother.
The Christian religion has not yet had time to accom-
plish this great object. Man is still in the toils of the
dominant Eace-spirit and the ideals of Christianity are
yet too high for him. The intellect can see some of the
beauties, and readily admits that we should love our ene-
mies, but the passions of the desire body are still too
strong. The law of the Eace-spirit being "An eye for an
eye," the Feeling is "I'll get even !" The heart prays for
Love; the desire body hopes for Eevenge, The intellect
sees, in the abstract, the beauty of loving one's enemies,
CHEIST AND HIS MISSION 385
but in concrete cases it allies itself with the vengeful feel-
ing of the desire body, pleading, as an excuse for ""getting
even,"' that "the social organism must be protected.''
It is a matter for congratulation, however, that society
feels compelled to apologize for the retaliative methods
used. Corrective methods and mercy are becoming more
and more prominent in the administration of the laws, as
is shown by the favorable reception which has been accorded
that very modern in.«titution, the Juvenile Court. Fur-
ther manifestation of this same tendency may be noted in
the increasing frequency with which convicted prisoners
are released on probation, under suspended sentence; also
in the greater humanity with which prisoners of war are
treated of late years. These are the vanguards of the sen-
timent of Universal Brotherhood, which is slowly but
surely making its influence felt.
Yet, though the world is advancing and though, for in-
stance, it has been comparatively easy for the writer to
secure a hearing for his views in the different cities where
he has lectured, the daily papers sometimes devoting to
his utterances whole pages (and front pages at that) so
long as he confined himself to speaking of the higher
worlds and the post mortem states, it has been very notice-
able that as soon as the theme was Universal Brotherhood
his articles have ahcay!< been consigned to the waste-basket.
The world in general is very unwilling to consider any-
thing tiiat is, as it thinks, "too" unselfish. There must be
"something in it." Nothing is regarded as an entirely
natural line of conduct if it offers no opportunity for
"getting the best of" one's fellowmen. Commercial under-
takings are planned and conducted on that principle and,
before the minds of those who are enslaved by the desire
to accumulate useless wealth, the idea of Universal Brother-
13
386 ROSICEUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
hood conjures up frightful visions of the abolition of cap-
italism and its inevitable concomitant, the exploitation of
otliers, with the wreck of "business interests" implied
thereb}'. The word '"enslaved" exactly describes this con-
dition. According to the Bible, man was to have dominion
over the world, but in the vast majority of cases the reverse
is true — it is the world which has dominion "Jver man.
Every man who has property interests will, in liis saner
moments, admit that they are a never-failing source of
worry to him ; that he is constantly scheming to hold his
possessions, or at least to keep from being deprived of them
by "sharp practice," knowing that others are as constantly
scheming to accomplish that, to them, desirable end. The
man is the slave of what, with unconscious irony, he calls
"my possessions," when in reality they possess him. Well
did the Sage of Concord say, "Things are in the saddle and
ride mankind !"
This state of affairs is the result of Race-religions, Avith
their system of law; therefore do they all look for "One
Who is to come." The Christian religion ALONE is not
looking for One Who is to come, but for One Who is to
come again. The time of this second coming depends
upon when the Church can free itself from the State. The
Church, especially in Europe, is bound to the Chariot of
State. The ministers are fettered by economic considera-
tions and dare not proclaim the truths" that their studies
have revealed to them.
A visitor to Copenhagen, Denmark, recently witnessed a
church confirmation service. The Church there is under
State control and all ministers are appointed by the tem-
poral power. The parishioners have nothing whatever to
say in the matter. They may attend church or not, as
(JHKIST ASD HIS MISSION 387
they please, but they are compelled to pay the taxes which
support the institution.
In addition to holding office hy tlie bounty of the State,
the* pastor of the particular churcli visited was decorated
with several Orders conferred by the king, the glittering
badges bearing silent but eloquent testimony as to the
extent of his subserviency to the State. During the cere-
mony, he prayed for the king and the legislators, that
they might rule the country wisely. As long as kings and
legislators exist, tliis prayer might be very appropriate, but
it was a considerable shock to hear him add: "...
and. Almighty God, protect and strengthen our army and
navy !"
Such a prayer as this shows plainly that the God wor-
shiped is the Tribal or National God — the Race-spirit, for
the last act of the gentle Christ Jesus was to stay the sword
of the friend who would have protected Him therewith.
Although He said He had not come to send peace, but a
sword, it was because He foresaw the oceans of blood that
would be spilled by the militant "Christian" nations in
their mistaken understanding of His teachings and because
high ideals cannot be immediately attained b}^ humanity.
The wholesale murder of war and like atrocities are harsh,
but they are potent illustrations of what Love would
alx)lish.
There is, apparently, a flat contradiction between the
words of Christ .Icsus, "I came not to send peace, but a
sword." and the words of the celestial song which heralded
the birth of Jesus, "On earth Peace, Goodwill toward men."
This I'ontradiction, however, is apparent only.
There is as great an apj^arent contradiction between a
woman's words and her actions when she says, "I am
going to clean house and tidy up," and then proceeds to
388 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
take up carpets and ])ile chairs one upon another, produc-
ing general confusion in a previously orderly house. One
observing only this aspect of the matter, would be justified
in saying, "She is making matters worse instead of betteV
but when the purpose of her work is understood, the ex-
pediency of the temporary disorder is realized and in the
end her hoiise will be the better for the passing disturbance.
Similarly, we must bear in mind that the time which
has elapsed since the coming of Christ Jesus is ])ut little
more than a moment in comparison with the duration of
even one Day of ]\Ianifestation. We must learn, as did
"Whitman, to "know the amplitude of time," and look be-
yond the past and present cruelties and jealousies of the
warring sects to the shining age of Universal Brotherhood,
which will niai'k the next great stop of man's progress on
his long and wondrous journey from the clod to the God,
from protoplasm to conscious unity with the Father, that
. . . one far-off, divine event
To which the whole creation moves.
It may be added that the above mentioned pastor, dur-
ing the ceremony of receiving his pupils into the Church,
taught them that Jesus Christ was a composite individual ;
that Jesus was the moi'tal, human part, while Christ was
the divine, immortal Spirit. Presumably, if the matter
had been discussed with him, he would not have supported
that statement, nevertheless in making it he stated an
occult fact.
The Star of Bethlehem.
The unifying influence of the Christ has been symbolized
in the beautiful legend of the worship of the three magi,
or "wise men of the East," so skilfully woven by General
Lew Wallace into his charming stor}-, "Ben Hur."
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 389
The three wise men — Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar —
are the representatives of the white, yellow and black
Races and symbolize the people of Europe, Asia and
Africa, who are all led by The Star to the AVorld-Savior,
to Whom eventually "every knee shall bow," and Whom
"every tongue shall confess"; Who shall unite all the
scattered nations under the Banner of Peace and Good-
will; Who shall cause men to "beat their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks."
The Star of Bcthlohom is said to have apj)eared at thfc
time of the birtli of Jesus, and to have guided the three
wise men to the Savior.
Much speculation lias been indulged in as to the nature
of this Star. Most material scientists liave decUircd it a
myth, while others liave said if it were anytliing more
tlian a mytli, it might have been a "•coincidence'' — two
dead Suns might have collided and caused a conflagration.
Every mystic, however, knows the "Star" — ^\'ea, and the
"Cross" also — not only as symbols connected with the life
of Jesus and Christ Jesus, but in his own personal experi-
ence. Paul says: "Until Christ be formed in you"; and
the mystic, Angelus Silesius, echoes :
Though Christ a thousand timo.s in Bethlehem be born
And not within thyself, thy soul will be forlorn.
The Cross on Golgotiia thou lookest to in vain
Unless within thyself it be set up again.
Eichard Wagner shows the intuitional knowledge of
the artist when, to the question of Parsifal, "Who is Tht
Grail?" Gurnemanz answers:
That tell we not;
But if thou hast by Ilini bciMi bidden.
From thee the truth will not stay hidden.
. . . The land to Him no patii leads through,
And 5>earch but severs from Him wider
Whf'n He Himself is not the Guider.
390 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Under tlie "old dispensation" the path to Initiation was
not open. It was for only the chosen few. Some might
seek the path, hut only those who were guided to the Tem-
ples by tlie Hierophants found entrance. Previous to tlie
advent of Christ, tliere was no such sweeping invitation as
^'Whosoever will may come."
At the moment the blood flowed on Golgotha, however,
"the veil of the Temple was rent" (for reasons presently to
be explained), and ever since that time, whosoever will
seek admittance will surely find it.
In the Temples of Mystery the Hierophant taught his
pupils that there is in tlie Sun a spiritual, as well as a
physical force. The latter force in the rays of the Sun
is the fecundating principle in nature. It causes the
growth of the plant world and thereby sustains the animal
'and human kingdoms. It is the upbuilding energy which
is the source of all physical force.
This physical, solar energy reaches its highest expres-
sion in midsummer, when the days are longest and the
nights are shortest, because the rays of the Sun then fall
directly on tlie northern hemisphere. At that time the
spiritual forces are the most inactive.
On the other hand, in December, during the long win-
ter nights, the physical force of the solar orb is dormant
and the spiritual forces reach their maximum degree of
activity.
The night between the 24:th and the 2oth of December
is The Holy Night, par excellence, of the entire year. The
Zodiacal sign of the immaculate celestial Virgin stands
upon the eastern horizon near midnight, the Sun of the
New Year is then born and starts upon his journey from
the southernmost point toward the northern hemisphere,
to save that part of humanity (physically) from the dark-
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 391
ness and famine wliicli would inevitably result if he were
to remain permanently south of the equator.
To the people of the northern hemisphere, where all
our present-day religions originated, the Sun is directly
below the Earth; and the spiritual influences are strong-
est, in the north, at midnight of the 24th of December.
That being the case, it follows as a matter of course that
it would then be easiest for those who wished to take a
definite step toward Initiation to get in conscious touch
with the spiritual Sun especially for the first time.
Therefore the pupils who were ready for Initiation were
taken in hand by the Ilierophants of the Mysteries, and
by means of ceroiuonies performed in the Temple, were
raised to a state of exaltation wherein they transcended
physical conditions. To their spiritual vision, the solid
Earth became transparent and they saw the Sun at mid-
night — ''The Star!" It was not the physical Sun they
saw with spiritual eyes, however, but the Spirit in the Sun
— The Christ — their Spiritual Savior, as the physical Sun
was their physical Savior.
This is the Star that shone on that Holy Night and
that still shines for the mystic in the darkness of night.
When the noise and confusion of physical activity are
quieted, he enters into his closet and seeks the way to the
King of Peace. The Blazing Star is ever there to guide
him and his soul hears the prophetic song, "On earth
Peace, Goodwill toward men."
Peace and goodwill to all, without exicption ; no room
for one single enemy or outcast! Is it any wonder that
it is hard to educate humanity to such a high standard?
Is there any better way to show the beauty of, and the
necessity for peace, goodwill and love than by contrasting
them with the present state of war, selfishness ami hate?
392 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
The stronger the light, the deeper the shadow it casts.
The liighcr our ideals, the more plainly can we see our
shortcomings.
Unfortunately, at the present stage of development, hu-
manity is willing to learn only by the hardest experience.
As a Eacc, it must become absolutely selfish to feel the
bitter pangs caused by the selfishness of others, as one
must know much sickness to be thoroughly thankful for
health.
The religion miscalled Christianity has therefore been
the bloodiest religion known, not excepting Mohammedan-
ism, which in this respect is somewhat akin to our mal-
practiced Christianity. On the battle-field and in the
Inquisition innumerable and unspeakable atrocities have
been committed in the name of the gentle Nazarene. The
Sword and the Wine Cup, — the perverted Cross and Com-
munion Chalice — have been the means bv which the more
powerful of the so-called Christian nations gained suprem-
acy over the heathen peoples, and even over other but
weaker nations professing the same faith as their con-
querors. The most cursory reading of the history of the
Graeco-Latin, Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon Eaces will cor-
roborate this.
While man was under the full sway of Race-religions
each nation was an united whole. Individual interests were
willingly subordinated to the community interests. All
were "under the law." All were members of their respec-
tive tribes first, and individuals only secondarily.
At the present time there is a tendency toward the other
extreme — to exalt "self" above all else. The result is evi-
dent in the economic and industrial problems that are
facing every nation and clamoring for solution.
The state of development wherein every man feels him-
CHRIST AND HIS MiSSlU.X 393
self an absolutely separate unit, an Ego, independently
pursuing his own course, is a necessary stage. The
national, tribal and family unity must first be broken up
before Universal Brotherhood can become a fact. The
regime of Paternalism has been largely superseded by the
reign of Individualism. We are learning the evils of the
latter more and more as our civilization advances. Our
unsystematic method of distributing the products of labor,
the rapacity of the few and the exploitation of the many —
these social crimes result in under-consumption, industrial
depressions and labor disturbances, destroying internal
peace. The industrial war of the present day is vastly
more far-reaching and destructive than the military wars
of the nations.
The Heart as ax Axomaly.
Xo lesson, though its truth may be superficially assented
to, is of any real value as an active principle of the life
until the iieart has learned it in longing and bitterness,
and the lesson nuni must so learn is tiiat what is not bene-
ficial to all can never be truly beneficial to any. For
nearly 2,000 years we have lightly assented with our lips
that we should govern our lives in accordance with such
maxims as, "Eeturn good for evil." The Heart urges
mercy and love, but the Reason urges belligerent and re-
taliatory measures, if not as revenge, at least as a means
of preventing a repetition of hostilities. It is this divorce
of head from heart that hinders the growth of a true feel-
ing of Universal Brotherhood and the adoption of the
teachings of Christ — the Lord of Love.
The mind is the focusing-point by means of which the
Ego lipcomes aware of the material universe. As an in-
strument for the acquisition of knowledge in those realms
394 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
the mind is invaluable, but when it arrocrates to itself the
role of dictator as to the conduct of man to man, it is as
though the lens should say to an astronomer who was in
the act of photographing the Sun through a telesco])o:
"You have me improperly focused. You are not looking
at the Sun correctly. I do not think it is good to photo-
graph the Sun anyway, and 1 want you to ])oint me at
Jupiter. The rays of the Sun heat me too much and are
liable to damage me."
If the astronomer exercises his will and focuses the
telescope as he desires, telling it to attend to its business
of transmitting tlie rays that strike it, leaving the results
to him, the work will proceed well, but if the lens has the
stronger will and the mechanism of the telescope is in
league with it, the astronomer will be seriously hampered
in having to contend with a refractory instrument, and
the result will be blurred pictures, of little or no value.
Thus it is with the Ego. It works with a threefold
body, which it controls, or should control through the
mind. But, sad to say, this body has a will of its own and
is often aided and abetted by the mind, thus frustrating
the purposes of the Ego.
This antagonistic "lower will" is an expression of the
higher part of the desire body. When the division of the
Sun, Moon and Earth took place, in the early part of the
Lemurian Epoch, the more advanced portion of humanity-
in-the-making experienced a division of the desire body
into a higher and a lower part. The rest of humanity did
likewise in the early part of the Atlantean Epoch.
This higher part of the desire body l)ecame a sort of
animal-soul. It built the cerebro-spinal nervous system
and the voluntary muscles, by that means controlling the
lower part of the threefold body until the link of mind was
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 395
given. Then the mind "coalesced" with this animal-soul
and became a co-regent.
The mind is thus bound up in desire; is enmeshed in the
selfish lower nature, making it difficult for the spirit to
control the body. The focusing mind, which should be the
ally of the higher nature, is alienated by and in league
with the lower nature — enslaved by desire.
The law of the Race-religions was given to emancipate
intellect from desire. The "fear of God*' was pitted against
"the desires of the flesh."' This, however, was not enough
to enable one to become master of the body and secure
its willing co-o])eratinn. It became necessary for the spirit
to find in the Iwdy another jioint of vantage, wliich was
not under the sway of tlie desire nature. All muscles are
expressions of the desire body and a straight road to the
capital, where the traitorous mind is wedded to desire and
reigns supreme.
If the United States were at war with France, it would
not land troops in England, hoping in that way to subju-
gate the French. It woukl land its soldiers directly in
France, and fight there.
Like a wise general, the Ego followed a similar course
of action. It did not commence its campaign by getting
control of one of the glands, for they arc expressions of
the vital body; nor was it possible to get control of the
voluntary muscles, for they are too well garrisoned by the
enemy. That part of the involuntary muscular system
which is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system
would also be useless for the purpose. It must get into a
more direct touch with the cerebro-spinal nervous system.
To do this, and secure a base of operations in the enoniy's
country, it must control a muscle which is involuntary, nnd
396 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
yet connected with the voluntary nervous system. Such a
muscle is the heart.
We have previously spoken of the two kinds of muscles
— voluntary and involuntary. The latter are formed in
lengthwise stripes and are connected with functions not
under the control of the will, such as digestion, respiration,
excretion, etc. The voluntary muscles are those which
are controlled by the will through the voluntary nervous
system, such as the muscles of the hand and arm. They
are striped both lengthwise and crosswise.
The above is true of all muscles in the body except the
heart, which is an involuntary muscle. Ordinarily, we
cannot control the circulation. Under normal conditions
the heart-beat is a fixed quantity, yet to the bewilderment
of physiologists, the heart is cross-striped like a voluntary
muscle. It is the only organ in the body exhibiting this
peculiarity but, sphinx-like, it refuses to give materia]
scientists an answer to the riddle.
The occult scientist easily finds the answer in the mem
ory of nature. From that record he learns that when the
Ego first sought a stronghold in the heart, the latter Mas
striped lengthwise only, the same as any other involuntary
muscle ; Imt as the Ego gained more and more control over
the heart, the cross-stripes have gradually developed. They
are not so numerous nor so well-defined as on the 7/uiscles
under the full control of the desire body, but as the altru-
istic principles of love and brntlierhood increase in strength
and gradually overrule tlie reason, which is ])ased in desire,
so will these cross-stripes become more numeroas and more
marked.
As previously stated, the seed-atom of rhe dense body
i'^ located in llie heart during life and withdrawn only at
death. The active work of the Ego is in the blood. Now,
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 397
if we except the lungs, the heart is the only orgar In the
body through which all the blood passes in every cycle.
The blood is the highest expression of the vital body,
for it nourishes the entire physical organism. It is also,
in a sense, the vehicle of the subconscious memory, and in
touch with the Memory of Nature, situated in the highest
division of the Etheric Kegion. The blood carries the pic-
tures of life from ancestors to descendants for generations,
where there is a common blood, as produced by inbreeding.
There are in the head three points, each of which is
the particular seat of one of the three aspects of the spirit
(See diagram 17), the second and third aspects having, in
addition, secondary vantage grounds.
The desire body is the perverted expression of the Ego.
It converts the "Selfhood" of the spirit into "selfishness."'
Selfhood seeks not its own at the expense of others. Self-
ishness seeks gain regardless of others. The seat of the
human spirit is primarily in the pineal gland and sec-
ondarily in the brain and cerebro-spinal nervous system,
which control the voluntary muscles.
The love and unity in the World of the Life Spirit find
their illusory counterpart in the Etheric Region, to which
we are correlated l)y the vital body, which latter promotes
sex love and sex union. The life spirit has its seat ])ri-
marily in the pituitary Ijody and secondarily in the heart,
which is the gateway of the blood that nourishes the
muscles.
The actionless Divine Spirit — The Silent Watcher —
finds its material ex])ression in the passive, inert and irre-
sponsive skeleton of the dense Imdy, which is the obedient
instrument of the other bodies, but has no power to act
on its own initiative. The Divine Spirit has its strong-
hold in the impenetrable point at the root of the nose.
398 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
In reality there is Init one spirit, the Ego, but looking at
it from the Physical "World, it is refracted into the three
aspects, which work as stated.
As tlie hlood passes through the heart, cycle after cycle,
hour after hour all through life, it engraves the pictures
it carries upon the seed-atoms while they are still fresh,
thus making a faithful record of the life which is indelibly
impressed on the soul in the post vi&rtem existence. It
is always in closest touch with the life spirit, the spirit of
love and unity, therefore the heart is the home of altruistic
love.
As these pictures pass inward to the "World of Life Spirit,
in which is the true memory of nature, they do not come
through the slow physical senses, but directly through tne
fourth ether contained in the air we breathe. In the
World of Life Spirit the life spirit sees much more clearly
than it can in the denser "Worlds. In its high home it is in
touch with the Cosmic Wisdom and in any situation it
knows at once what to do and flashes the message of guid-
ance and proper action back to the heart, which as in-
stantaneously flashes it on to the l^rain through the medium
of the pneumo-gastric nerve, resulting in "first impres-
sions" — the intuitional impulse, which is always good,
because it is drawn directly from the fountain of Cosmic
Wisdom and Love.
This is all done so quickly that the heart has control
before the slower reason has had time to "take in the situa-
tion," as it were. It is the thought that a man "thinketh
in his heart," and it is true that "so is he." IMan is
inherently a virgin spirit, good, noble and true in every
respect. All that is not good is from the lower nature, that
illusory reflection, the Ego. The virgin spirit is always
giving wise counsel. If we could only follow the impulses
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 399
of the heart — the first thought — Universal Brotherhood
would be realized here and now.
But that is Just the point where the trouble begins.
After the good counsel of the first thought has been given,
the brain begins to reason, with the result that, in whe
great majority of cases, it dominates tlie heart. The tele-
scope arranges its own focus and points where it lists,
despite the astronomer. The mind and the desire body
frustrate the designs of the spirit by taking control and, as
they lack the spirit's wisdom, both spirit and body suffer.
Physiologists note that certain areas of the brain are
devoted to particular thought activities and phrenologists
have carried this branch of science still further. Xow, it
is known, that thought breaks down and destroys nerve
tissues. This and all other waste of tlie body, is replaced
by the blood. When, through the development of the heart
into a voluntary muscle, the circulation of the blood finally
passes under tlie absolute control of the unifying life spirit
— the Spirit of Love — it will then be within the power of
that spirit to withhold the blood from those areas of the
mind devoted to selfish purposes. As a result, those par-
ticular thought centers will gradually atrophy.
On the other hand, it will be possible for the spirit to
increase the blood supply when the mental activities are
altruistic, and thus build up the areas devoted to altruism,
so that, in time, the desire nature will be conquered and
the mind emancipated by Love from its bondage to desire.
It is only by complete emancipation, through Love, that
man can rise above the law and become a law unto himself.
Having conquered himself, lie will have conquered all the
World.
The cross-stripes of the heart may be built by certain
exercises under occult trainiuLr. but as some of these exer-
400 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
cises are dangerous, tlie}' should be undertaken only undei
the direction of a competent teacher. That no reader of
this l)ook nuiy be deceived by impostors professing ability
and willingness to so train aspirants for a consideration,
it '^ emphatically repeated that No true occultist ever
boasts, advertises his occult power, sells occult information
or lessans at so much each or for a course; nor icill he
consent to a theatrical display. His work is done in the
most unobtrusive manner possible and solely for the pur-
pose of legitimately helping others, without thought of
self.
As said in the beginning of this chapter, all persons
earnestly desiring the higher knowledge may rest assured
that if they will but seek, they will find the way open for
them. Christ Himself prepared the way for "whosoever
will." He will help and welcome all real seekers, who are
willing to work for Universal Brotherhood.
The Mystery of Golgotha.
During the last 2.000 years much has been said abojt
"the cleansing blood." The blood of Christ has been
extolled from the pulpit as the sovereign remedy for sin;
the only means of redemption and salvation.
But if the laws of Eebirth and Consequence work in such
a way that evolving beings reap as they have sown, and if
the evolutionary impulse is constantly bringing liumanity
higher and higher, ultimately to attain perfection — where
then is the need for redemption and salvation? Even if
the need existed, how can the death of one individual help
the rest ? Would it not lie nobler to suffer the consequences
of one's acts than to hide behind another ? These are" some
of the objections to the doctrine of vicarious atonement
and redemption by the blood of Christ Jesus. We will try
CHRIST AXD HIS MISSION 40 1
to answer them bet'orc showing the logical harinony be-
tween the operation of the law of Consequence and the
Atonement by Christ.
In the first place, it is absolutely true that the evolution-
ary impulse does work to achieve ultimate jierfection for
all; yet there are some who are constantly straggling be-
hind. At the present time, we have just passed the extreme
point of materiality and are going through the sixteen
Races, We are treading "the sixteen paths to destruc-
tion/' and are consequently in graver danger of falling
behind than at any other part of the evolutionary journey.
In the abstract, time is nothing. A number may fall
behind so far that they must be abandoned, to take up-their
further evolution in another scheme, where they can con-
tinue their journey to perfection. Xevertheless that was
not the evolution originally designed for them and it is
reasonable to suppose that the exalted Intelligences in charge
of our evolution use every means to bring through in safety
as many as possible of the entities under their charge.
In ordinary evolution, the laws of Rebirth and Conse-
quence are perfectly adequate for bringing the major por-
tion of the life wave up to perfection, hut they do not suftice
in the case of the stragglers, who are lagging behind in the
various Races. During the stage of individualism, wliich
is the climax of the illusion of sopnratencss, all mankind
needs extra help, but for the stragglers some additional
special aid must bo ])r()viil('i].
To give that special aid, to nMk'cin tlie stragglers, was
the mission of Christ. He said that lie came to seek and
to save that which was lost. lie ojx^ned uj) the way of
Initiation for all who are willing to seek it.
Objectors to vicarious atonement urge: That it is cow-
402 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
ardlv to hide beliind anotlicr; tliat each man should be
willing to take the consequence of his acts.
Let us consider an analogous case. The waters of the
Great Lakes narrow into the Niagara l^iver. For twenty
miles this enormous volume of water flows rapidly toward
the falls. The river l)ed is filled with roi'ks and i*" a ])orson
who goes beyond a certain })oint does not lose his life in the
rapids above the cataract, he will surely do so by the plunge
over the brink.
Suppose a man appeared who, in pity for the victims of
the current, placed a rope above the cataract, although he
knew that the conditions were such that in doing so, he
himself could not by any possible chance escape death. Yet
jjladlv and of his own free will, he sacrificed his life and
placed the rope, thus modifying former conditions so that
any otherwise helpless victims who would grasp the rope
would be saved and thenceforward none need be lost.
What would we think of a man who had fallen into the
water through his own carelessness, and was struggling
madly to reach the shore, if he should say : "What ! Save
myself and seek to avoid the penalty of my carelessness by
shielding myself behind the strength of another, who suf-
fered through no fault of his own, and gave up his life that
such as I might live? No, never! That would not be
"manly." I will take my deserts !"' Would we not all
agree that the man was a fool ?
Not all are in need of salvation. Christ knew that there
is a very large class who do not require salvation in this
way, but just as surely as there are the ninety-and-nine
who are Avell taken care of by the laws of Rebirth and
Consequence and will reach perfection in that way, so there
are the "sinners" who have become "bogged"' in matter and
cannot esca])e witliout a rope. Christ came to save them
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 403
and to bi-iiif^ i)eace and good will to all. by raising them
to the necessary point of spirituality, causing a change in
their desire bodies which will make the influence of the
life spirit in the heart more potent.
His younger brother Sun-spirits, the Archangels, had
worked as Race-spirits on the desire bodies of man, but
their work had been from without. It was simply a re-
flected spiritual Sun-force and came through the Moon —
as moonlight is reflected sunlight. Christ, the Chief Ini-
tiate of the Sun-spirits, entered directly into the dense
body of the Earth and brought the direct Sun-force, thus
enabling Him to influence our desire bodies from ivitkvn.
Man cannot gaze long upon the Sun without becoming
blind because its vibrations are so rapid that they destroy
the retina of the eye. But he can look without harmful
results upon the Moon, the vibrations from which are
much slower; yet they are also sunlight, but the higher
vibrations have been taken up by the ^loon, which then
reflects the residue to us.
So it is with the spiritual impulses which help man to
evolve. The reason why the Earth was thrown off from
the Sun was because our humanity could not endure the
Sun's tremendous physical and spiritual impulses. Even
after an enormous distance had been placed between
Earth and Sun, the spiritual impulse would still have
been too strong had it not been sent first to the Moon, to
be used by Jehovah, the Regent of the Moon, for man's
benefit. A number of Archangels (ordinary Sun-spirits)
were given Jehovah as helpers in reflecting these spiritual
impulses from the Sun upon the humanity of the Earth,
ic the form of Jehovistic or Race-religions.
The lowest vehicle of the Archangels is the desire body.
Our desire body was added in the Moon Period, at which
404 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
time Jehovah was the highest Initiate. Therefore Jeliovah
is able to deal with man's desire body. Jehovah's lowest
vehicle is the human spirit (see diagram 14) and its coun-
terpart is the desire body. The Archangels are His helpers
because they are able to manage the spiritual Sun-forces
and the desire body is their lowest vehicle. Thus they are
a!)le to work with and prepare humanity for the time when
it can receive the spiritual impulses directly from the Solar
Orb, without the intervention of the Moon.
Upon Christ, as the highest Initiate of "^he Sun Period,
is laid the task of sending out this impulse. The impulse
which Jehovah reflected was sent out by Christ, Who thus
prepared both the Earth and humanity for His direct
ingress.
The expression, "prepared the Earth," means that all
evolution on a planet is accompanied by the evolution of
that planet itself. Had some observer gifted with spiritual
sight watched the evolution of our Earth from some distant
star, he would have noticed a gradual change taking place
in the Earth's desire body.
Under the old dispensation the desire bodies of people
in general were improved by means of the law. This work
is still going on in the majority of people, who are thus
preparing themselves for the higher life.
The higher life (Initiation) does not commence, how-
ever, until the work on the vital body begins. The means
used for bringing that into activity is Love, or rather
Altruism. The former word has been so abused that it no
longer conveys the meaning here required.
During the old dispensation the path of Initiation was
not free and open, except to the chosen few. The Hiero-
phants of the Mysteries collected certain families al)nut
the Temples, setting them apart from all the other people.
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 405
These chosen families were then rigorously guarded as
to certain rites and ceremonies. Their marriages and
sexual intercourse were regulated by the Hierophants.
The effect of this was to produce a race having the
proper degree of laxity between the dense and vital bod-
ies; also to wake the desire body from its state of leth-
argy during sleep. Thus a special few were made fit for
Initiation and were given opportunities that could not
be given to all. We see instances of this method among
the Jews, where the tribe of Levi were the chosen Tem-
plars; also in the caste of the Brahmins, who were the
only priestly class among the Hindus.
The Mission of Christ, in addition to saving the lost,
was to make Initiation possible to all ; therefore Jesus
was not a Levite of the class to which priesthood came by
inheritance. He came from the common people and,
though not of the teacher class, His teaching was higher
than that of Moses.
Christ Jesus did not deny Moses, the law. nor the
prophets. On the contrary, lie acknowledged them all
and showed the people that they were Ilis witnesses, as
they all pointed to One Who was to come. He told the
people that those things had sensed their purpose and
that henceforth Love must supersede Law.
Christ Jesus was killed. In connection with this fact,
we come to the supreme and fundamental difference be-
tween Him and the previous teachers, in whom the Race-
spirits were born. They all died and must be reborn
again and again to help their jieoples bear their destiny.
The Archangel Michael (the Kace-.spirit of the Jews)
raised up Moses, who was taken up to Mount Nebo to die.
He was reborn as Elijah. Elijah returned as John the
Baptist; Buddha died and was reborn as Shankara-
406 RCSICKL'CIAN COtiMO-COXCEPTION
charya; Shri Krishna says, "Whenever there is decay of
Dharma , . , and . . . exaltation of Adharma, then
I myself come forth for the protection of good, for the
destruction of evil-doers, for the sake of firmly establishing
Dharma. I am born from age to age."
When death came Moses' face shone and Buddha's body
became alight. They all reached the stage when the spirit
begins to shine from within — but then they died.
Christ Jesus reached that stage on the ]\Iount of Trans-
figuration. It is of the very highest significance that
His real ivork took place subsequent to that event. He
sufl:ered; was Jiilled — and resurrected.
Being killed is a very different thing from dying. The
blood that had been the vehicle of tlie Eace-spirit must
flow and be cleansed of tliat contaminating influence. Love
of father and mother, exclusive of other fathers and moth-
ers, must go — otherwise Universal Brotherhood and an
all-eml)racing. Altruistic Love could never become an
actuality.
The Ci.eaxsing Blood.
When the Savior Christ Jesus was crucified His body
was pierced in five places; in the five centers where the
currents of the vital body flow; and the pressure of the
crown of thorns caused a flow from the sixth also. (This
is a hint to those who already know these currents. A
full elucidation of this matter cannot be publicly given
out at this time.)
When the blood flowed from these centers, the great
Sun-spirit Christ was liljerated from the physical vehicle
of Jesus and found Himself in the Earth, with individual
vehicles. The already existing planetary vehicles He per-
meated with His own vehicles and, in the twinkling of an
CHRIST AND HIS MISSION 407
eye, diffused His own desire body over the planet, whicli
has enabled Him tliencel'orth to work upon the Earth and
its humanity from iritliiii.
At that moment a tremendous Avave of spiritual sunh<,'ht
flooded the Earth. It rent the veil which the Race-spirit
had hung before the Tem])le to keep out all but the chosen
few, and it made the Path of Initiation free thenceforth
*o whomsoever will. 80 far as concerned the Spiritual
Worlds, this wave transformed the conditions of p]arth
like a flash of lightning, but the dense, concrete conditions
are, of course, much more slowly affected.
Like all rapid and high vibrations of light, this great
wave blinded the people by its dazzling brilliance, there-
tore it was said that "the Sun was darkened.'' The very
opposite was what actually occurred. The Sun was not
darkened, but shone out in glorious splendor. It was the
excess of light that blinded the people, and only as the
entire Earth absorbed the desire body of the bright Sun-
spirit did the vibration return to a more normal rate.
The expression, "the cleansing blood of Christ Jesus,"
means that as the blood flowed on Calvary, it bore with it
the great Sun-spirit Christ, Who by that means secured
admission to the earth itself and since that moment has
been its Regent. He diffused His own desire body through-
out the planet, thereby cleansing it from all the vile influ-
ences which had grown up under the regime of the Race-
spirit.
Under the law all sinned ; nay, more — they could not
help it. They had not evolved to where they could do
right for Love's sake. The desire nature was so strong that
it was an impossibility for them to rule it altogether, there-
fore their debts, engendered under the law of Consequence,
piled up to monstrous proportions. Evolution would have
408 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
been terribly delayed and many lost to our life wave
altogether if some help had not been given.
Therefore did Christ come "to seek and to save that
which was lost." He took away the sin of the world by
His cleansing blood, which gave Him entrance to the
Earth and its humanity. He purified the conditions and
we owe it to Him that we are able to gather for our desire
bodies purer desire-stuff than formerly, and He continues
working to help us, by making our external environment
constantly purer.
That this was and is done at the expense of great suf-
fering to Himself, no one can doubt who is able to form
the least conception of the limitations endured by that
Great Spirit in entering the hampering conditions of
physical existence, even in the best and purest vehicle pos-
sible; nor is His present limitation as Regent of the Earth
much less painful. True, He is also Regent of the Sun,
and therefore only partially confined to the Earth, yet the
limitations set by the crampingly slow vibrations of our
dense planet must be almost unendurable.
Had Christ Jesus simply died, it would have been im-
possible for Him to have done this work, but the Christians
have a rise7i Savior ; One Who is ever present to help those
who call upon His Name. Having suffered like unto our-
selves in all things and knowing fully our needs. He is
lenient toward our mistakes and failures so long as we
continue trying to live the good life. We must ever keep
ueiore our eyes the fact that the only real failure is ceasing
to try.
Upon the death of the dense body of Christ Jesus, the
seedatom was returned to the original owner, Jesus
of Nazareth, who for some time afterward, while function-
ing in a vital body which he had gathered temporarily,
CHRIST AND HIS MISSIUX 409
taught the nucleus of the new faith wliicli Christ liad left
boliind. Jesus of Xazareth has since had the guidance of
the esoteric branches wliich sprang up all over Europe.
In many places tlie Kniglits of tlie Round Table were
higii Initiates in the Mysteries of tlie Xew Dispensation,
'^o were the Knights of The Grail — to whom was finally
^onfided Joseph of Ariniathea's Grail Gup, which was used
by Christ Jesus at The Last Supper. They were after-
ward entrusted also with the Lance which pierced His
■jide, and the receptacle which received the blood from the
wound.
The Druids of Ireland and the Trottes of Xorthern
Russia were esoteric schools through which the Master
Jesus worked during the so-called "Dark Ages," but, dark
though they were, the spiritual impulse spread, and from
the standpoint of the occult scientist they were "Bright
Ages" compared to the growing materialism of the last
300 years, which has increased physical knowledge im-
mensely, but has almost extinguished the Light of tlie
Spirit.
Tales of "The Grail," "Knights of The Round Table,"
etc., are now scouted as superstitions and all that cannot
be materially demonstrated is regarded as unwortliy of
belief. Glorious as are the discoveries of modern science,
they have been bought at the terrible price of crushing the
spiritual intuition and, from a sjjiritual standpoint, no
darker day than the present lias ever dawned.
The Elder Brothers, Jesus among them, have striven
and are striving to counteract this terribk> influence, which
is like that in the eyes of the snake, causing the bird to
lull into its jaws. Every attempt to enlighten the people
and awaken in them a desire to cultivate tlie spiritual side
of life, is an evidence of the activity df the Khler Ik'^thers.
410
ROSICKUCIAN COSMO-CON'CEPTION
May their efforts be crowned with success and speed the
day wlicn modern science sliall be spiritualized and con-
duct its investigations of matter from the standpoint of
spirit, for tlien, and not until then, will it arrive at a true
knowledge of the world.
"As Above, So Below." •
Tho world, the man and the atom are governed by the same
law. Our dense earth is now in its 4th stage of consolidation.
The mind, the desire body and the vital body are less solid than
our 4th vehicle, the dense body. In the atomic weight of the
chemical elements there is a similar arrangement. The 4th
group marks the acme of density.
CHAPTER XVI.
Futurp: Di:velop^[ent and Initiation',
The Seven Days of Creation.
THE Rosicrucian speaks of the Earth Period as ^lars-
Mercury. The great creative Day of Manifesta-
tion is embodied in the names of the days of the
week, for our week-days have been named after the evolu-
tionary stages through which the virgin spirits pass in
their pilgrimage through matter.
Day. Corrfspo)Hls io the Is ruled by
Saturday Saturn Period Saturn
Sunday Sun Period The Sun
Monday Moon Period The Moon
Tuesday First half of the Earth Period Mars
"Wednesday .... Second half of the Earth Period.. . . Mercury
Thursday Tupiter Period lupiter
Friday Venus Period Venus
The Vulcan Period is the last Period of our scheme of
evolution. The quintessence of all the j)receding Periods
is extracted by the recapitulation of spiral after spiral.
No new work is done until the very last devolution on the
very last Globe and then only in the Seventh Epoch.
Therefore the Vulcan Period may be said to correspond to
the week, which includes all of the seven days.
The claim of astrologers that the days of tlie week are
ruled by tlve particular ])lanet for which they are named,
is well-founded. The ancients were also familiar with this
occult knowledge, as is shown in their mythologies, in
411
412 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
wliich the names of the gods are associated with the days
of the week. Saturday is plainly "Saturn's day"; Sunday
is correlated to the Sun, and Monday to the Moon. The
Latins call Tuesday "Dies Martis," which obviously shows
its connection with Mars, the god of war. The name
"Tuesday" is derived from "Tirsdag," "Tir" or "Tyr,"
being the name of the Norse god of war. "Wednesday"
was "AVotensday," from Woten, also a Xorse god ; it is
called "Dies ^Mercurii" by the Latins, showing its associa-
tion with Mercury, as given in our list.
Thursday, or "Thorsdag," is named for "Thor," the
Norse god of thunder, and is called "Dies Jovis" by the
Latins, after the thunder gods, "Jove" and "Jupiter."
Friday is named for the Norse goddess of beauty,
"Freya," and for similar reasons, the Latins call it "Dies
Veneris," or Day of Venus.
These names of Periods have nothing to do with the
physical planets, but refer to past, present or future in-
carnations of the Earth; for, again applying the Hermetic
axiom, "As above, so below," the macrocosm must have its
incarnations as well as the microcosm, man.
Occult science teaches that there are 777 incarnations,
but that does not mean that the Earth undergoes 777
metamorphoses. It means that evolving life makes
7 Revolutions around the
7 Globes of the
7 World Periods.
This pilgrimage of Involution and Evolution, including
the "short cut" of Initiation, is embodied in the Caduceus,
or "Staff of Mercury" (see diagram 15), so called because
this occult symbol indicates The Path of Initiation, which
has been open to man only since the beginning of the
Mercury half of the Earth Period. Some of the lesser
DIAGRAM U
The Seven Days of Creation
AND
The Four Great Initiations
ORDINARY HUMANITY PURSUES THE SPIRAL PATH
THE INITIATE GOES THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW WAY THAT LEADS
Saturn -Period
(Saturday)
Violet
Venus-Perioo
(FRIDAY)
RiED
Moon -Period
(monoav)
Blue
Earth -
MERCURV-HALF
(WEDNtSOAYJ-YELLOW
THEWEEK.
(embracing m.lthe oavs)
White
(iNCLUniNO AaTHECOlQRs)
5un-Period
(SUNDAY)
Indigo
Jupiter-Period
(Thursday)
Orange
- Per 1 OD
MARS - HALF
(uJESDAY) GREEN
The Wayof Initiation
There was no initiation prior to the end of the
Mars half of the Earth Period . The. lesser mys-
teries EMBRACE Human Evoltion in the Mercury
half of the Earth-Period
4] 4 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
mysteries were given to the earlier Lemurians and Atlan-
teans, but not the Four Great Initiations.
The black serpent on diagram 15 indicates the winding,
cyclic path of Involution, comprising the Saturn, Sun and
Mood Periods, and the Mars half of the Earth Period,
during which the evolving life built its vehicles, not be-
coming fully awake and clearly conscious of the outside
world until the latter part of the Atlantean Epoch.
The white serpent represents tlie path that the human
race will follow through the Mercury half of the Earth
Period, and the Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan Periods, dur-
ing whicli pilgrimage man's consciousness will expand into
that of an omniscient, Creative Intelligence.
The serpentine path is the path followed by the great
majority; but the "Staff of Mercury," around which the
serpents twine, shows the "straight and narrow way," tlie
path of Initiation, which enables those who walk therein
to accomplish in a few short lives that which it requires
millions of years for the majority of mankind to accom-
plish.
It need scarcely be said that no description of the initia-
tory ceremonies can be given, as the first vow of the Ini-
tiate is silence; but even if permissible, it would not be
important. What concerns i;s in getting a bird's-eye view
of the evolutionary path is to ascertain the results of the
ceremonies.
The whole result of initiation is to give to the spiritually
aspiring an opportunity to develop the higher faculties
and powers in a short time and by severe training, thereby
gaining the expansion of consciousness that all mankind
will surely possess eventually, but which the vast majority
choose to acquire through the slow process of ordinary evo-
lution. We mav know the states of consciousness and
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT 415
their concomitant powers attained hy the candidate as he
passes through successive great Initiations, provided we
know what those future states and powers will be for hu-
manity in general. Some hints have been given and more
may be logically deduced by an application of the law of
Correspondences, to give a fairly rounded picture of the
evolution in store for all of us, and the magnitude of tiie
great steps in Initiation. To do this it may help us to
glance back over the steps by which the consciousness of
man has been evolved through the various Periods.
We remember that during the Saturn Period the uncon-
sciousness of man was similar to that of the dense body
when plunged into the deepest trance condition ; this was
succeeded, in the Sun period, by a dreamless-sleep con-
sciousness. In the Moon Period the first glimmering of
waking showed itself in inward pictures of outward things.
The entire consciousness consisted of such inward repre-
sentations of external olijccts, colors, or sounds. At last,
in the latter part of the Atlantean Epoch, this picture-
consciousness gave way to the present full waking-con-
sciousness, in which objects could be ol)serve(l outside,
clearly and distinctly outlined in space. Wlien this objec-
tive-consciousness was attained, man became aware of an
outside world and for the first time thoroughly realized
the difference between "self" and "others." He then real-
ized his separatencss and thencet'nrth the "I" consciousness.
Egoism, became paramount. As previous to tliat time
there had been no thoughts nor ideas dealing with an out-
side world, there had cxjnsequently been no memory of
events.
The change from the internal picture consciousness to
the ol)jective-seU'-consciousness was effected by a very slow
process, commensurate with its magnitude, lasting from
416 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
the existence on Globe C in tiie tliird Revolution of the
Moon Period, until the latter part oi' tiie Atlantean Epoch.
During thai time the evolving life passed through four
great stages of animal-/ j'^'c development before reaching the
human stage. These steps of the past correspond to four
stages yet to be passed through, and to the four initiations.
Within these four stages of consciousness previously
passed there are altogether thirteen steps, and from man's
present state to the last of the Great Initiations there are
also thirteen initiations — the nine degrees of the lesser
mysteries and the four Great Initiations.
There is a similar division among our present animals
which can be traced through Form, because, as the form
is the expression of the life, so each step in its development
must necessarily show a step forward in consciousness.
Cuvier was the first to divide the animal kingdom into
four primary classes, but was not so successful in his divi-
sion of these classes into sub-classes. The embryologist,
Karl Ernst von Baer, also Professor Agassiz and other
scientists, classify the animal kingdom into four primary
and thirteen subdivisions, as follows:
J. BADIATES:
1 — Polyps, Sea-anemones and Coral.
2 — Acalephs, or Jelly-fish.
3 — Starfish, Sea-urchins.
TI MOLLUSKS :
4 — Acephala (oysters, etc.).
5 — Gasteropoda (snails).
6 — Cephalopoda.
III AETICULATES:
7 — Worms.
8 — Crustacea (lobsters, etc.).
9 — Insects.
IV VERTEBRATES:
10— Fishes.
11— Reptiles.
12— Birds.
13 — Mammals.
FUTUKE DEVELOPMENT 417
The first three divisions correspond to the remaining
three devolutions of the Mercury half of the Earth Period,
and their nine steps correspond to the nine degrees of the
lesser mysteries, which will have been taken by humanity
in general when it has reached the middle of the last
Eevolution of the Earth Period.
The fourth division in the list of the advancing animal
kingdom has four subdivisions : Fishes, Keptiles, Birds,
and Mammals. The steps in consciousness thus indicated
correspond to similar states of advancement to be attained
by humanity at the end of the Earth, Jupiter, Venus, and
Vulcan Periods and which any qualified individual may
now attain by initiation. The first of the Great Initiations
gives the stage of consciousness which will be attained by
ordinary humanity at the end of the Earth Period ; the
second that to which all will attain at the end of the
Jupiter Period ; the third gives the extension of conscious-
ness to be reached at the close of the Venus Period ; the
last brings to the initiate the power and omniscience to
whicli the majority will attain only at the end of the Vul-
can Period.
The Objective-Consciousness by which we obtain knowl-
edge of the outside world is dependent upon wliat we
])erceive through the medium of the senses This we call
''real,'' in contradistinction to our thoughts and ideas-
which come to us through our inner consciousness; their
reality is not apparent to us in the same way as that of
a book or table, or other visil)le or tangible object in space.
Thoughts and idea.5 seem misty and f//jreal, therefore we
speak of a "mere" thought, or of "just" an idea.
The ideas and thoughts of today, however, have an evo-
lution before them ; they are destined to become as real,
clear and tangible as any of the objects of the outside
14
418 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
world wliich we now perceive through the physical senses.
At present, when a thing or a color is thought of, the pic-
ture or color presented by the memory to our inner con-
sciousness is but a dim and shadowy one compared with
the thing thought of.
As early as the Jupiter Period there will be a marked
change in this respect. Then the dream-pictures of the
Moon Period will return, but they will be subject to the
call of the thinker, and not mere reproductions of outer
objects. Thus there will be a combination of the pictures
of the Moon Period and the thoughts and ideas consciously
developed during the Earth Period, that is, it will be a
Self -Conscious Picture-Conscioiisness.
When a man of the Jupiter Period says "red," or speaks
the name of an object, a clear and exact reproduction of
the pai'tic'ular shade of red of wliicli he is thinking, or of
the object to which he refers, will l)e presented to his inner
vision and will also be quite visible to the hearer. There
will be no misconcejjtion as to what is meant by the words
spoken. Thoughts and ideas will be alive and visible,
therefore hypocrisy and flattery will be entirely eliminated.
People can be seen exactly as they are. There will bo
both good and bad, but the two qualities will not be min-
gled in the same person. There will be the thoroughly
good man and the downright evil man, and one of the
serious problems of that time will be how to deal with
the latter. The ]\Ianichees, an Order of still higher spiritu-
ality than the Eosicrucians, are at present studying that
very problem. An idea of the condition anticipated may
be gained from a short resume of their legend. (All
mystic orders have a legend symbolical of their ^d^als and
aspirations.)
In the legend of the Maniohe'^s there are two kingdon/»
FUTUKE DEVELOPMENT 419
— that of the Liglit-Elves and that of the Xight-P]lves.
The latter attack the former, are defeated and must be
punished. But, as tlie Light-Elves are as thoroughly good
as the Night-Elves are bad, they cannot inflict evil upon
their foes, so they must he punished icith Good. There-
fore a part of the kingdom of the Light-Elves is incor-
porated with that of the Night-Elves and in this way the
evil is in time overcome. Hfite which will not submit to
hate, must succumb to Love.
The internal pictures of the Moon Period were a cer-
tain expression of man's external environment. In the
.hipiter Period the i)i(tures will be expressed from within;
they will be an outcome of tlie inner life of the man. ITe
will also possess the additional faculty, which he cultivated
in the Earth Period, of seeing things in space outside of
himself. In the Moon Period he did not see the concrete
thing, but only its soul-<[ualities. In the Jupiter Period
lie will see both, and will thus have a thorough percei)tion
and understanding of his surroundings. At a later stage
in the same Period, this perceptive ability will be suc-
ceeded by a still higher phase. His power to form clear
mental conceptions of colors, objects, or tones will enable
him to contact and influence supersensuous beings of vari-
ous orders and to secure their obedience, employing their
forces as he wishes. He will be unable to send out from
himself. the forces wherewith to carry out his designs, how-
ever, and will be dependent upon the help of these super-
physical beings, who will then be at his service.
At the close of the Venus Period he will be able to use
his own force to give his pictures life and to set them out
from himself as objects in space. He will then possess an
Objective, Self -Conscious, Creative-Consciousness.
Very little can be said alx)ut the high spiritual ron-
420 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONX'EPTION
soiousncss whicli will he attained at the close of the Vulcan
reriod ; it would he quite heyond our present comprehen-
sion.
Spirals within Spirals.
It must not be supposed that these states of conscious-
ness commence at the beginning of the Periods to which
they belong and last until the end. There is always the
Eecapitulation, and therefore there must be the corre-
sponding stages of consciousness on an ascending scale.
The Saturn devolution of any Period, the stay on Globe
A, and the first Epoch on any Globe, are repetitions of
the Saturn Period states of development. The Sun ]^evo-
lution, the stay on Globe B, and the second Epoch on any
Globe are Recapitulations of the Sun Period states of de-
velopment, and so on, all the way through. Hence it will
be seen that the consciousness which is to be the especial
and peculiar result or product of any Period, does not
begin to l)e evolved until all the Pecapitulations have been
made. The waking-consciousness of the Earth Period was
not started until the Fourth Revolution, when the life
wave had reached the Fourth Globe (D), and was in the
Fourth or Atlantean Epoch on that Globe.
The Jupiter consciousness will not start in the Jupiter
Period until the Fifth Revolution, when the Fifth Globe
(E) has been reached and the Fifth Epoch commenceb
on that Globe.
Correspondingly, the Venus consciousness will not begin
until the Sixth Revolution has come to the Sixth Globe
and Epoch, and the special- Vulcan work will be confined
to the very last Globe and Epoch, just before the Day of
Manifestation closes.
The time required for passing through these respective
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT 421
Periods varies greatly. The further into matter the virgin
spirits descend, the slower their progress and the more
numerous the steps or stages of progression. After the
nadir of material existence has been pa.ssed and the life
wave ascends into more tenuous and mobile conditions, the
progress is gradually accelerated. The Sun Period is of
somewhat longer duration than the Saturn Period, and
the Moon Period is longer than the Sun Period. The
Mars (or first) half of the Earth Period is the longest
half of any Period. Then the time begins to shorten
again, so that the IMercury half of the Earth Period, the
latter three and a half Revolutions, will occupy less time
than the Mars half; the Jupiter Period will be shorter
than the Moon Period ; the Venus Period shorter than
the corresponding Sun Period; and the Vulcan Period
the shortest Period of them all.
The states of consciousness of the different Periods
may be tabulated as follows:
Period Ccrrcspoiidinff consciousness
Saturn T^iicon.sciousness torresii«m<liiig to deep trance
Sun rnt'oiisoiousness reseniblinjj dreamless sleep
Moon Picturo eonsriousness corresponding to dream state
I'^artli Waking, objective consciousness
.Tiipiter Self-conscious picture consciousness
V(>nus Objective, Self-conscious, Creative consciousness
Vulcan Highest Spiritual Consciousness
Having taken a general survey of the state? of conscious-
ness to bo (k'veloped in the next tliree and a lialf Porinds,
we will now study the means of attainment.
AlCUKMY and S()L"L-(iliOWTII.
The dense body was started in the Saturn P-criod. ])assi'd
through various transformations in the Sun and M(X)n
422 KUSICKUCIAN C0SM0-C'0N"CEPT10x\
]''eriods, and will i-raeh its highest deve]()i)inent in the
Earth Period.
The vital body was started in the second Ik'volution of
the Sun Period, was reeonstnietcd in the Moon and Earth
Periods, and will reach perfection in the Jupiter Period,
wdiich is its fourth stage, as the Earth Period is the fourth
stage for the dense body.
The desire body was started in the Moon period, recon-
structed in the Earth period, will be furtlier modified in
the Jupiter Period, reaching perfection in the Venus
Period.
The mind was started in the Earth Period, will be modi-
fied in the Jupiter and A^enus Periods, and attain to ])er-
fection in the Vulcan Period.
Reference to diagram 8 will show that the lowest Globe
of the Jupiter Period is located in the Etheric Region. It
would therefore be impossible to use the dense physical
vehicle there, as only a vital body can be used in the
Etheric Region. Yet it must not l)e supposed that after
spending the time from tlie beginning of the Saturn
Period to the end of the Earth Period in completing and
perfecting this body, it is tlicn thrown away that man
may function in a "higher" vehicle I
Nothing in Nature is wasted. In the Jupiter Period
the forces of the dense body will be superimposed upon
the completed vital body. That vehicle will then possess
the powers of the dense body in addition to its own facul-
ties, and will tliei'efore be a imuh moi'e valuable instru-
ment for the e.\i)ression of the tlireefi)l(l spirit than if
built from its own forces alone.
Similarly, Globe D of the Venus Period is located in
the Desire World (see diagram 8), hence neither a dense
nor a vital body could be used as an instrument of con-
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT 423
sciousncsp, therefore the essences of the perfected dense
and vital bodies ai'e incorporated in the completed desire
body, the iattei' thus becoming a vehicle of transcendent
qualities, marvelously adaptable and so responsive to the
slightest wish of the indwelling s])irit that in our present
limitations, it is beyond our utmost conception.
Yet the efliciency of even this splendid vehicle will be
transcended when in the Vulcan period its essence, to-
gether with the essences of the dense and vital bodies, are
added to the mind body, which becomes the highest of
num's vehicles, containing within itself the quintessence
of all that was best in all the vehicles. The vehicle of the
Venus Period being beyond our present power of conce])-
tion, how nmch more so is that which will be at the service
of the divine beings of the Vulcan Period !
During involution the creative Hierarchies assisted man
to arouse into activity the threefold spirit, the p]go, to
build the threefold body, and to acquire the link of mind.
Now, however, on the seventh day (to use the language
of tiie Bible), God rests. Man must work out his own
salvation. The threefold spirit must complete the working
out of the plan begun by the Gods.
The human spirit, which was awakened during Involu-
tion in the Moon Period, will be the most prominent of
the three aspects of the si)irit in the evolution of the
Jupiter Period, which is the corresi)onding Period on the
u|)ward arc of the spiral. The life spirit, which was
started into activity in the Sun Period, will manifest its
principal activity in the corresponding \'enus Period, and
the i)ai'ti(ular inlluences of the Divine Sjjirit will be strong-
est in the X'ulcan Period, because it was vivified in the
corresponding Saturn Period.
All three aspects of the s])irit are active all the time
424 KOSI CRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
during evolution, l)ut the principal activity of eacli aspect
will be unfolded in those particular Periods, because the
work to be done there is its special work.
When the threefold spirit had evolved the threefold body
and gained control of it through the focus of Mind, it
commenced to evolve the threefold soul by working from
within. How much or how little soul a man has depends
upon the amount of work the spirit has done in the bodies.
This has been explained in the chapter describing post
mortem experiences.
As much of the desire lx)dy as has been worked upon
by the Ego is transmuted into the emotional soul, and is
nltimately assimilated by the human sj^irit, the special
vehicle of which is the desire body.
As much of the vital body as has been worked upon by
the life spirit, becomes the Intellectual soul, and it builds
the life spirit, because that aspect of the threefold spirit
has its counterpart in the vital body.
As much of the dense body as has been worked upon
by the Divine Spirit is called the Conscious soul, and is
ultimately merged in the Divine Spirit, because the dense
body is its material emanation.
The Conscious soul grows by action, external impacts,
and experience.
The Emotional soul grows l)y the feelings and emotions
generated by actions and experiences.
Tlie Intellectual soul, as mediator between the other
two, grows by the exercise of memory, by which it links
together past and present experiences and the feelings
engendered thereby, thus creating "sympathy" and "an-
tipathy," which could not exist apart from memory, be-
cause tlie feelings resulting from experience alone would be
evanescent.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT 425
During involution the spirit progressed by growing
bodies, but evolution depends upon soul growth — the trans-
mutation of the bodies into soul. The soul is, so to say,
the (juintessence, the power or force of the body, and when
a body has been completely built and brought to perfec-
tion through the stages and Periods as above described,
the soul is fully extracted therefrom and is absorbed by
the one of the three aspects of the spirit which generated
the body in the first place ; thus :
The Conscious sotd will be absorbed by the divine spirit
in the seventh Revolution of the Jupiter Period ;
The Intellectual foul will be absorbed by the life spirit
in the sixth Kevohition of the Venus Period;
The Emotional sont will be absorbed l)y the human spirit
in the fifth Kevolution of the Vulcan Period.
The Creative AVohd.
The mind is tlie most important instrument possessed
l)y the spirit, and its special instrument in the work of
creation. The spiritualized and perfected larynx will spt-ak
the creative Word, but the perfected mind will decide as
to the particular form and the volume of vibration, and
will thus l)e the determining factor. Imagination will be
the spiritualized faculty directing the work of creation.
There is a strong tendency at the present time to regard
the faculty of imagination slightingly, yet it is one of the
most imjx)rtant factors in our civilization. If it were not
for the imagination, we would still be naked savages.
Imagination i)lanned our houses, our clothes and our trans-
portation and transmission facilities. Had not the in-
ventors of these improvements possessed the mind and
imagination to form mental inuiges, the improvements
could never liave become concrete realities. In our nuite-
426 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION ■
rialistic day and ago there is scarcely an elTort niaile to
conceal the contempt in wliich the faculty of imagination
is generally held, and none feel the efTects of this more
acutely than inventors. They aie usually classed as
"cranks," and 3'et they have hecn the chief factors in tlie
subjugation of tlie I'liysical World and in making our
social environment what it is today. Any improvement in
spiritual or physical conditions must first be imagined as
a ])ossjbility before it can become an actuality.
If the student will turn to diagram 1 this fact will 1)6-
come clear. In the comparison there drawn between the
functions of the different human vehicles and the parts of
a, stereopticon, the mind corresponds to the lens. It is the
focusing medium whereby tlie ideas wrought by the imagi-
nation of the spirit are projected upon the material uni-
verse. First they are thought-forms only, but when the
desire to realize the imagined possibilities has set the man
to work in the Physical World, they become what we call
concrete "realities."
At the present time, however, the mind is not focused
in a way that enables it to give a clear and true picture of
what the spirit imagines. It is not one-pointed. It gives
misty and clouded pictures. Hence the necessity of experi-
ment to show the inadequacies of the first conception, and
bring alx)ut new imaginings and ideas until the image
produced by the spirit in mental substance has been repro-
duced in physical substance.
At the best, we are able to shape through the mind only
such images' as have io do with Form, because the human
mind was not started until the Earth Period, and there-
fore is now in its form, or "mineral" stage, hence in our
operations we are confined to forms, to minerals. We can
imacrine wavs and moans of working with the mineral
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT 427
forms of the three lower kingdoms, but can do little or
notliing with living; bodies. We may indeed graft living
branch to living tree, or living part of animal or man to
other living part, but it is not life with which we are
working; it is form onlv. We are making different condi-
tions, but the life wliich already inhabited the form con-
tinues to do so still. To create life is lx3yond man's power
until his mind has become alive.
In the Jupiter Period the mind will Ije vivified to some
extent and man can then imagine forms which will live
and grow, like plants.
In the Yenus Period, when his mind has acquired '"Feel-
ing." he can create living, growing, and feeliiKj things.
When he reaches i^erfection, at the end of the Vulcan
Period, he will be able to "imagine" into existence crea-
tures that will live, grow, feel, and think.
In the Saturn Period the life wave which is now man
started on its evolution. The Lords of ^lind were then
human. They worked with man at that Period, when he
was mineral. They now have nothing to do with the lower
kingdoms, but are concerned solely with our human
development.
Our present animals started their mineral existence in
the Sun Period, at which time the Archangels were human,
therefore the Archangels are the rulers and guides of the
evolution of that which is now animal, but have nothing to
do with plant or minoral.
The present plants had their mineral existence in the
^loon Period. The Angels were then human, therefore
they have special concern with tiie life that now inhabits
the plants, to guide it u)) 1o llir human stage; I)ut they
have no interest in the minerals.
Our present luunanilv will have to work with the new
488 BOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
life wave, which entered evolution in the Earth Period and
now i'Nsoids Hie fuinerals. We are now working with it
by means of the faculty of imagination, giving it form —
building it into ships, bridges, railways, houses, etc.
In the Jupiter Period we shall guide the evolution of the
plant kingdom, for that which is at present mineral will
then have a plant-like existence and we must work with it
there as the Angels are now doing with our plant kingdom.
Our faculty of imagination will be so developed that
we shall have the ability, not only to create forms by means
of it, but to endow those forms with vitality.
In the Yenus Period our present mineral life wave
shall have advanced another step, and we shall be doing for
the animals of that period what the Archangels are now
doing for our animals — giving them living and feeling
forms.
Lastly, in the Yulcan Period it will be our privilege
to give them a germinal mind, as the Lords of Mind did
to us. The present minerals will then have become the
humanity of the Vulcan Period, and we shall have passed
through stages similar to those through which the Angels
and Archangels are now passing. We shall then have
reached a point in evolution a little higher than that of the
present Lords of ]\Iind, for rememl)er, there is never an
exact reproduction anywhere, l)ut always progressive im-
provement, because of the spiral.
The Divine Spirit will absorb the human spirit at the
close of the Jupiter Period ; the life spirit at the close of
the Yenus Period : and the perfected ]\rind, eml)odying
all that it has garnered during its pilgrimage through all
the seven Periods, will be absorbed by the Divine Spirit at
the close of the Yulcan Period. (There is no contradic-
tion of the foregoing in the statement made elsewhere that
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT 429
the Emotional soul will l)o absorbed by the human spirit in
the fifth Eevolution of the A'ulcan Period, l)ecause the
latter will then 1x3 within the Divine Spirit.)
Then will succeed the lonp: interval of subjective activity,
during which the virgin spirit will assimilate all the fruits
of the septenary Periods of active Manifestation. It is
then merged in God. from Whom it came, to re-emerge
at the dawn of another Great Day, as One of His glorious
helpers. During its past evolution its latent possibilities
have been transmuted to dynamic powers. It has acquired
Soul-power and a Creative Mind as the fruitage of its
pilgrimage through matter. It has advanced from impo-
tence to Omnipotence, from nescience to Omniscience.
CHAPTEE XVII.
The Method of Acquiring Fiust-IIand Knowledge.
The First Steps.
THE time lias now come for pointing out the way by
which each individual may investigate for himself
all the facts with which we have dealt thus far in
our study. As stated in the beginning, there are no special
"gifts'" bestowed upon any. All may know for themselves
the truth concerning the pilgrimage of the soul, the past
evolution and future destiny of the world, without being
compelled to depend upon tlie veracity of another. There
is a method whereby this vahiable faculty may be acquired,
and the earnest student qualify himself to investigate those
super-physical realms; a method by which, if persistently
followed, the powers of a God may be develoj^ed.
A simple illustration may indicate the first steps. The
very best mechanic is well-nigh helpless without the tools
of his craft. Indeed it is the hall-mark of a good artisan
that he is very fastidious as to the quality and condition
of the tools he uses, because he knows that the work de-
pends as much upon their excellence as upon his skill.
The Ego has several instruments — a dense body, a vital
body, a desire bodj'^ and a mind. These are its tools and
upon their quality and condition depends how much or how
little it can accomplish in its work of gathering experience
in each life. If the instruments are poor and dull there
430
ACQUIKIAG FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 431
will be but little spiritual growth and the life will be a
barren one, so far as the spirit is concerned.
We generally estimate a "successful" life by the bank
account, the social position attained, or the haj)pi-
ness resulting from a carefree existence and a sheltered
environment.
When life is regarded in that way all the principal
things that make for permanency are forgotten ; the indi-
vidual is blinded by the evanescent and illusionary. A
bank account seems such a very real success, the fact is
forgotten that from the moment the Ego leaves the body, it
has no equity in gold nor any other earthly treasure. It
nuiy even have to answer for the methods employed in
amassing tiiat hoard, and suffer great pain in seeing others
spend it. It is forgotten that the important social posi-
tion also disappears when the silver cord is loosed. Those
who once fawned may then sneer, and even those who were
faithful in life might shudder at the thought of an hour
s})ent with no company but that of the dead. " All that is
of this life alone is vanity. Only that is of true value
which can l)e taken with us across the threshold as the
treasure of tlie spirit.
The hot-house plant may look very beautiful as it blooms
in its sheltered glass house, but should the furnace lire
go out, it would wiilier and die, while the jilant that has
grown in rain and sunshine, through storm and calm, will
survive the winter and bloom afresh each year. Fr<im the
viewpoint of tlie soul. bap])ini'ss and a sheltered environ-
ment are generally unfortunate circumstances. The jn'tted
and fondled lap-dog is subject to diseases of which the
homeless cur^ which has to fight for a scrap from a gar-
bage can, knows notJiing. The cur's life is hard, but it
gets experience that makes it alert, alive and resourceful.
432 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Its life is rich in events, and it reaps a harvest of experi-
ence, while the pampered lap-dog drones its time away in
fearful monotony.
The case of a human being is somewhat similar. It
may be hard to fight poverty and hunger, but from the
standpoint of the soul it is infinitely preferable to a life of
idle luxury. Where wealth is nothing more than the hand-
maid of well thouglit out philanthropy, which helps man
in such a way as to really uplift him, it may be a very
great blessing and a means of growth for its possessor, but
v.'hen used for selfish purposes and oppression, it cannot
be regarded as other than an unmitigated curse.
The soul is here to acquire experience through its instru-
ments. These are the tools furnished to each at birth, and
they are good, bad or indifferent according to what we
have learned through past experience in the building of
them. Such as they are Ave must work with them, if at all.
If we have become aroused from the usual lethargy and
are anxious to progress, the question naturally arises.
What must I do ?
Without well-kept tools the mechanic can do no effective
work; similarly, the instruments of the Ego must be
cleansed and sharpened ; then we may commence to work
to some purpose. As one works with those wonderful
tools they themselves improve with proper use and be-
come more and more efficient to aid in the work. The
object of this work is Union with, the Higher Self.
There are three steps by which this work conquers the
lower nature, but they are not completel}^ taken one after
the other. In a certain sense they go together, so that at
the present stage the first receives the most- attention, the
second less, and the third least of all. In time, when the
ACQUIEING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 433
first step has been wholly taken, naturally more attention
can be paid to the other two.
There are three helps given in attaining these three
stages. They can be seen in the outside world, where the
great Leaders of humanity have placed them.
The first help is Eace-religions, which by aiding human-
ity to overcome the desire body, prepare it for union with
the Holy Spirit.
The full operation of this help was seen on the Day of
Pentecost. As the Holy Spirit is the Race-God, all lan-
guages are expressions of it. That is why the apostles,
when fully united and filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke
with different tongues and wore aide to convince their
hearers. Thoir desire bodies had l)een sufficiently purified
to bring about the wished-for union and this is an earnest
of what the disciple will one day attain to — the power tc
speak all tongues. It may also l)e cited as a modern,
historical example, that the Compte de St. Germain (who
was one of the later incarnations of Christian Eosenkreutz,
the founder of our sacred Order), spoke all languages, so
that all to whon\ he spoke thought he belonged to the
same nation as they. He also had achieved union with the
Holy Spirit.
In the Hyperborean Epoch, before man possessed a
desire body, there was but one universal mode of communi-
cation and when the desire body has l)ecome sufficient iy
purified, all men will again be able to understand one
another, for then the separative Race differentiation shall
have passed away.
The second help which humanity now has is the Religion
of the Son — the Christian religion, the object of which is
Union with Christ by purification and control of the vital
body.
434 ROSICKUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Paul refers to this future state when he says: "Until
Christ he funned in you," and exhorts his followers, as men
who are runninj:^ u race, to rid themselves of every weight.
Tlie fundamental })rinc'ii)k' in huilding the vital hody is
repetition. Ik^peated e.\])eriences work on it to create
memory. The Leaders of luiinanity, who desired to give
us uneonscious help hy certain exercises, instituted prayer
as a means of hringing pure and lofty thought to work on
the vital hody, and enjoined us to ''pray without ceasing."
Scoffers have often asked sneeringly why it should be
thought necessary to always pray, because if God is omnis-
cient He knows our needs and if He is not, our pra)'ers
will probably never reach Him ; and if not omniscient,
He cannot be omnipotent, and therefore could not answer
prayer in any case. Many an earnest Christian may also
have thought it wrong to be continually importuning the
Throne of Grace.
Such ideas are founded upon a misunderstanding of
facts. Truly God is omniscient and requires no reminder
of our needs, but if we pray aright, we lift ourselves up to
Him, thus working upon and purifying our vital bodies.
If we pray aright — l)ut that is the great trouble. We are
generally much more concerned about temporal things
than we are about spiritual upliftment. Churches will
hold special meetings to pray for rain ! and the chaplains
of opposing armies or navies will even pray before a battle
that success may follow their arms !
That is prayer to the "Race-God, Who fights the battles
of His people, gives them increase of flocks and herds,
fills their granaries and caters to their material wants.
Such prayers are not even purifying. They are from the
desire body, which sums up the situation thus : Now Lord,
i
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 435
I am keeping your conimantlmonts to the lx?st of my ability
and I want You to do Your part in return.
Christ gave to humanity a prayer tliat is, like Himself,
imi<|ue and all-embracing. In it there are seven distinct
and separate prayers; one for each of the seven principles
of man — the threefold body, the threefold spirit and the
link of mind. Each prayer is jioculiarly adapted to pro-
mote the progression of that ii.-.it of composite man to
which it refers.
The purpose of the prayer relating to the threefold body
is the spiritualization of those vehicles and the extraction
therefrom of the threefold soul.
The prayers relating to tlie threefold spirit prepare it to
receive the extracted essence, the threefold soul.
The prayer for the link of mind is to keep it in its
proper relation as a tie between the higher and the lower
nature.
T]\v third helj) to be given to humanity will Ik? the
Religion of the Father. We can have very little concep-
tion of what that will be, save that tlie ideal will l^e even
higher than Brotherhood and that by it the dense body
will be spiritualized.
The Religions of the Holy Spirit, the Race-religions,
were for the uplifting of the human race through a feeling
of kinshi]i limited to a grouji — family, tribe or nation.
The purpose of the Religion of The Son, Christ, is to
further uplift mankind by forming it into a Universal
Brotherhood of sejiarate individuals.
The ideal of the Religion of The Father will be tha
elimination of all separateness, merging all into One, so
that there will be no ''!" nor ''Thou." but all will be One
in rralifj/. This will not come to pass while we are still
inhabitants of the physical Earth, but in a future state
436 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
where we shall realize our unity with all, each having access
to all tiie knowledge garnered by each separate individual.
Just as the single facet of a diamond has access to all the
light that comes through each of the other facets, is one
with them, yet hounded by lines which give it a certain
individuality without separate ness, so will the individual
spirit retain the tnenwri/ uf its particiitar experiences,
while giving to all others the fruits of its individual
existence.
These are the steps and stages through wliicli liumanity
is unconsciously being led.
In past ages the Eace-spirit reigned alone. Man was
content with a patriarchal and paternal government in
which he had no part. Xow all over the world we see
signs of the breaking down of the old system. The caste
system, wliich was the stronghold of England in India,
is crumbling. Instead of being separated into small
groups, the people are uniting in the demand that the
oppressor shall depart and leave them to live in freedom
under a government of, by and for the people. Eussia is
torn by strife for freedom from a dictatorial, autocratic
government. Turkey has awakened and taken a long
stride toward lil)erty. Here in our own land, where we
are supposed to be in the actual enjoyment of such liberty
as others are, as yet, only able to covet or fight for, we are
not yet satisfied. We are learning that there are other
oppressions than those of an autocratic monarchy. "We
see that we have still industrial freedom to gain. We are
chafing under the yoke of the trusts and an insane system
of competition. We are trending toward co-operation,
which is now practiced by the trusts within their own
confines for private profit. We are desirous of a state of
ACQUIRING FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE 437
society where "they shall sit every man under his vine and
under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid."
Thus, all over the world, the old systems of paternal
government are changing. Nations, as such, have had
their day and are unwittingly working toward Universal
Brotherhood in accordance with the design of our invisible
Leaders, who are none the less potent in shaping events
because they are not officially seated in the councils of
nations.
These are the slow means by wliich the different bodies
of humanity at large are being purified, but the aspirant
to the higher knowledge works consciously to attain to
these ends, by well-defined methods, according to liis con-
stitution.
Western ^Methods for Western People.
In India, certain methods under different systems of
Yoga, are used. Yoga moans Union and, as in the West,
the object of the aspirant is union with tiie Higher Self;
but to be efficacious, the methods o^' seeking that union
must differ. The vehicles of a Hindu are very differently
constituted from those of a Caucasian. The Hindus have
lived for many, nuiny tiiousands of years in an environ-
ment and climate totally ditTfrent from ours. They have
pursued a different method of thought and their civiliza-
tion, though of a very high order, is ditferent from ours
in its effects. Therefore it would be useless for us to
adopt their methods, which are the outcome of the highest
occult knowledge and perfectly suited to them, but as un-
suitable for the peojilc of flic West n^; n ilict of oats would
be for a lion.
For instance, in some systems it is required that the
yogi shall sit in certain positions, that particular (.Kinjc
438 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
currents may flow through his body in a certain way to
produce certain definite results. That instruction would
be altogether useless for a Caucasian, as he is absolutely
impervious to those currents, because of his way of living.
If he is to attain results at all, he must work in harmony
with the constitution of his vehicles. That is why the
' ' Mysteries" were established in different parts of Europe
during the Middle Ages. The alchemists were deep stu-
dents of the higher occult science. The popular belief
that the object of their study and experimenting was the
transmutation of baser metals into gold, was because they
chose that symbolic way of describing their true work,
which was the transmutation of the lower nature into
spirit. It was thus described to lull the suspicions of the
priests, without stating a falsehood. The statement that
the Rosicrucians were a society devoted to the discovery
and use of the formula for the making of the ' ' Philoso-
pher's Stone" was and is true. It is also true that most
people have handled and do often handle this wondrous
stone. It is common, but of no avail to any but the indi-
vidual who makes it for himself. The formula is given in
the esoteric training and a Rosicrucian is no diffei-ent in
that respect from the occultist of any other school. All
are engaged in the making of this coveted stone, each,
however, using his own methods, as there are no two indi-
viduals alike and consequently really effective work is
always individual in its scope.
All occult schools are divisible into seven, as are the
"Rays" of Life, the virgin spirits. Each School or Order
belongs to one of these seven Rays, as does each unit of
our humanity. Therefore any individual seeking to unite
with one of these occult groups, the ' ' Brothers ' ' in which
do not belong to his Ray, cannot do so with benefit to
ACQUIRING FIRSTHAND KNOWLEDGE 439
himself. The members of tlicse groups are brothers in a
more intimate sense than are the rest of humanity.
Perliaps if tiiese seven Kays are compared to the seven
colors of the spectrum, their relation to one another can
be better understood. For instance, if a red ray were to
ally itself with a green ray, inharmony would result. The
same principle applies to spirits. Each must proceed
with the group to which it belongs during manifestation,
yet they are all one. As all the colors are contained in
the white light, but the refractive quality of our atmos-
phere seems to divide it into seven colors, so the illusory
conditions of concrete existence cause the virgin spirits
to seem grouped and this apparent grouping will abide
while we are in this state.
The Kosicrucian Order was started particularly for those
whose high degree of intellectual development caused them
to repudiate the heart. Intellect imperiously demands a
logical explanation of everything — the world mystery, the
questions of life and death. The reasons for and the
modus operandi of existence were not explained by tiie
])riestly injuction "not to seek to know the mysteries of
God." ^
To any man or woman who is blest, or otherwise, with
such an incjuiring mind it is of paramount importance
lliat they shall receive all the inroniiati<in they crave, so
tiiat when tlie head is stilled, the heart may speak. Intel-
lectual knowledge is but a means to an end, not the end
itself. Therefore, the K'osierucian purposes first of all to
satisfy the aspirant for knowledge that everything in the
universe is reasonable, thus winning over the rebellious
intellect. When it has ceased to criticise and is ready to
accept provisionally, as prohnldi/ true, statements wliich
cannot be immediatelv verilied, then, and not until then,
440 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
will esoteric training be elt'ective in developing the higher
faculties whereby man passes from faith to first-hand
knowledge. Yet, even then it will be found that, as the
pupil progresses in first-hand knowledge and becomes able
to investigate for himself, there are always truths ahead
of him that he knows to be truths, but which he is not yet
advanced sufTiciently to investigate.
The pupil will do well to remember that nothing that is
not logical can exist in the universe and that logic is the
surest guide in all the Worlds, but he must not forget that
his faculties are limited and tliat more than his own pow-
ers of logical reasoning may be needed to solve a given
problem, although it may, nevertheless, be susceptible of
full explanation, but by lines of reasoning which are be-
yond the capacity of the pupil at that stage of his de-
velopment. Another point tliat must be borne in mind
is that unwavering confidence in the teacher is absolutely
necessary.
The foregoing is recommended to the particular con-
sideration of all who intend taking the first steps toward
the higher knowledge. If the directions given are fol-
lowed at all, they must be given full credence as an effi-
cacious means to accomplish their purpose. To follow
them in a half-hearted manner would be of no avail what-
ever. Unbelief will kill the fairest flower ever produced
by the spirit.
Work on the different bodies of man is carried on syn-
chronously. One body cannot be influenced without af-
fecting the others, but the principal work may be done on
any one of them.
If strict attention is paid to hygiene and diet, the dense
body is the one principally affected, but at the same time
there is also an effect on the vital body and the desire
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 44I
body for, as purer and l)etter materials are built into the
dense body, the particles are enveloped in purer planetary
ether and desire-stuff also, therefore the planetary parts
of the vital and desire bodies become purer. If attention
is ])aid to food and hygiene only, the personal vital and
desire bodies may remain almost as impure as before, but
it has become just a little easier to get into touch with the
good than if gross food were used.
On tlie other hand if, despitr annoyances, an equable
temper is cultivated, also literaiy and artistic tastes, the
vital body will produce an effect of daintiness and fas-
tidiousness in physical matters and will also engender en-
nobling feelings and emotions in the desire body.
Seeking to cultivate the emotions also reacts upon the
other vehicles and helps to improve them.
The Sciexce of ^vTutrition'.
If we ])egin with the dense vehicle and consider the
physical means available to improve it and make it the
best possible instrument for the spirit and afterward con-
sider the spiritual means to the same end, we shall be in-
cluding all the other vehicles as well; therefore we shall
follow that method.
The first visible state of a human embryo is a small,
globulous, pulpy or jelly-like substance, similar to albu-
men, or the white of an c(rg. In this pulpy globule various
particles of more solid nuitter appear. These gradually
increase in bulk and density until they come in contact
with one another. The different points of contact are
slowly modified into joints or hinges and thus a distinct
framework of solid matter, a skeleton, is gradually formed.
During the formation of this framework the surround-
ing i)ulpy matter accumulates and changes in form until
442 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
at length that degree of organization develops which is
known as a i'a'tus. This heconies larger, firmer, and more
fully organized up to the time of birth, when the state of
infancy begins.
The same process of consolidation which commenced
with the first visible stage of existence, still continues.
The being passes througli the different stages of infancy,
childhood, youth, manhiod or womanhood, old age, and
at last comes to the chan-ijc that is called death.
Each of these stages is characterized by an increasing
degree of hardness and solidity.
There is a gradual increase in density and firmness of
the bones, tendons, cartilages, ligaments, tissues, mem-
branes, the coverings and even the very substance of the
stomach, liver, lungs, and other organs. The joints be-
come rigid and dry. They begin to crack and grate when
they are moved, because the synovial fluid, which oils and
softens them, is diminished in quantity and rendered too
thick and glutinous to serve that purpose.
The heart, the brain, and the entire muscular system,
spinal cord, nerves, eyes, etc., partake of the same con-
solidating process, growing more and more rigid. Millions
upon millions of the minute capillary vessels which ramify
and spread like the branches of a tree throughout the en-
tire body, gradually choke up and change into solid fibre,
no longer pervious to the blood.
Tiie larger blood vessels, both arteries and veins, indu-
rate, lose their elasticity, grow smaller, and become in-
ca])able of carrying the required amount of blood. The
fluids of the body thicken and become putrid, loaded with
earthy matter.. The skin withers and grows wrinkled and
dry. The hair falls off for lack of oil. The teeth decay
and drop out for lack of gelatine. The motor nerves begin
ACQUIEIXG FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 443
to dry up and the movements of tlie body become awkward
and slow. The senses fail ; the circulation of the blood is
retarded; it stagnates and congeals in the vessels. More
and more the body loses its former powers. Once elastic,
liealthy, alert, pliable, active and sensitive, it becomes
rigid, slow, and insensible. Finally, it dies of old age.
The question now arises, What is the cause of this grad-
ual ossification of the body, bringing rigidity, decrepitude,
and death ?
From the purely physical standpoint, chemists seem to
be unanimous in the opinion that it is principally an in-
crease of phosphate of lime (bone matter), carbonate of
lime (common chalk), and sulphate of lime (plaster of
pari?), with occasionally a little magnesia and an insigni-
ficant amount of other eartiiy matters.
The only difference between the body of old age and
that of childhood is the greater density, toughness and
rigidity, caused by the greater proportion of calcareous,
earthy matter entering into the composition of the for-
mer. The bones of a child are composed of three part- of
gelatine to one part of earthy matter. In old age this
proportion is reversed. What is tiie source of this death-
dealing accumulation of solid matter?
It seems to Ix? axiomatic that the entire lx)dy is nour-
ished by the blood and that everything contained in the
body, of whatever nature, has first been in the blood.
Analysis shows that the blood holds earthy substances of
the same kind as the solidifying agents — and mark I — the
arfrn'dJ l)lood contains more earthy matter than the venous
blood.
This is highly important. It shows that in every cycle
the blood deposits earthy substances. It is therefore the
common carrier tliat chokes u)i the svstem. Rut its sup-
444 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
ply of earthy matter must l)c replenished, otherwise it
could uot continue to do this. Where does it renew its
deadly load? There can be but one answer to tluit ([ues-
tion — from the food and drink ; the re is absolutely no
other source.
The food and drink which nourish the body must be,
at the same time, the primary source of the calcareous,
earthy matter which is deposited by the blood all over the
system, causinc; decrepitude and finally death. To sus-
tain physical life it is necessary that we eat and drink,
but as there are many kinds of food and drink, it be-
hooves us, in the light of the above facts, to ascertain, if
possible, what kinds contain the smallest proportion of
destructive matter. If we can find such food we can
lengthen our lives and, from an occult standpoint, it is
desirable to live as long as possible in each dense body,
particularly after a start has been made toward the path.
So many years are required to educate, through childhood
and hot youth, each body inhabited, until the spirit can
at last obtain some control over it, that the longer we can
retain a body that has become amenable to the s])irit's
promptings, the better. Therefore it is highly important
that the pupil partake of such fond and drink only as will
deposit the least anion iii of hardening matter and at the
same time keep the excretory organs active.
The skin and the urinary system are the saviors of man
from an early grave. Were it not that by their means,
most of the earthy matter taken with our food is elimi-
nated, no one would live ten years.
It has been estimated that ordinary, undistilled spring
water contains carbonate and other compounds of lime to
such an extent that the average quantity used each day by
one person in the form of tea, coffee, soup, etc., would in
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 445
forty years be sufficient to form a block of solid chalk or
marble the size of a large man. It is also a significant
fact that although phosphate of lime is always found in
the urine of adults, it is not found in the urine of chil-
dren, because in them the rapid formation of bone re-
quires that tliis salt be retained. During the period of
gestation there is very little earthy matter in the urine of
the mother, as it is used in the building of the foetus. In
ordinary circumstances, however, earthy matter is very
much in evidence in the urine of adults and to this we
owe the fact that physical life reaches even its present
length,
Undistilled water, when taken internally, is man's worst
enemy, but used externally, it l)ccomes his best friend. It
keeps the pores of the skin open, induces circulation of
the blood and prevents the stagnation which affords the
best opportunity for the depositing of the earthy, deatii-
dealing phosphate of lime.
Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood,
said that health denotes a free circulation and disease is
the result of an obstructed circulation of the blood.
The bathtub is a great aid in keeping up the health of
the body and should be freely Used by the aspirant to the
higher life. Perspiration, sensible and insensible, carries
more earthy matter out of the body than any other agency.
As long as fuel is supplied and the fire kept free from
ashes, it will burn. The kidneys are important in carry-
ing away the ashes from the body, but despite the great
amount of earthy matter carried away l)y the urine, enough
remains in many cases to form gravel and stone in the
bladder, causing untold agony and often death.
Let no one be deceived into thinking tliat water con-
tains less stone because it has Ijeen boiled. The stone that
448 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONXEPTION
Fruits are an ideal diet. They are in fact evolved by
the trees to induce animal and man to eat them, so that
the seed may he disseminated, as flowers entice bees for a
similar purpose.
Fresh fruit contains water of the purest and best kind,
capable of permeating the system in a marvelous manner.
Grape juice is a particularly wonderful solvent. It thins
.^nd stimulates the blood, opening the way into capillaries
already dried and choked up — if the process has not gone
too far. By a course of unfermented grape- juice treat-
ment, people with sunken e3'es, wrinkled skins and poor
complexions become plump, ruddy and lively. The in-
creased permeability enables the spirit to manifest more
freel}'' and with renewed energ3^ The following table,
which with the exception of the last column, is taken
from the publications of the United States Department of
Agriculture, will give the aspirant some idea of the amount
it is necessary to eat for different degrees of activity, alsc
the constituents of the various foods named.
Considering the body from a purely physical standpoint,
it is what we miglit call a chemical furnace, the food being
the fuel. The more the l)ody is exercised, the more fuel
it requires. It would be foolish for a num to change an
ordinary diet which for years had adequately nourished
him, and take up a new method without due thought as to
which would be the best for serving his purpose. To sim-
ply eliminate meats from the ordinary diet of meat-eaters
would unquestionably undermine the health of most per-
sons. The only safe way is to experiment and study the
matter out first, using due discrimination. Xo fixed rules
can be given, the matter of diet being as individual as any
other characteristic. All that can be done is to give the
table of food values and describe the general influence of
ACQUIKING FIKST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 449
eacli clieinieal element, allowing the aspirant to work out
his own method.
Xeither must we allow the appearance of a person tc
influence our judgment as to the condition of his liealth.
Certain general ideas of how a, healthy person should look
are commonly accepted, but there is no valid reason for so
judging. Euddy cheeks might be an indication of health
in one individual and of disease in another. There is no
particular rule by which good health can be known except
the feeling of comfort and well-being which is enjoyed by
the individual himself, irrespective of appearances.
The table of foods here given deals with five chemical
com{)ounds.
Water is the great solvent.
Nitrogen or proteid i?; the essential builder of flesh, but
contains some earthy nuitter.
Carbo-hydrates or sugars are the principal power-pro-
ducers.
Fats are the producers of heat and the storers of reserve
force.
Ash is mineral, earthy, and chokes the system. We need
have no fear of not obtaining it in sufficient quantities to
build the bones; on the contrary, we cannot be too careful
to get as little as possible.
The calorie is the simple unit of heat, and the tal)lc
shows the oumbor contained in each article of food when
bought at the market. In a pound of Brazil nuts, for in-
stance, 49.6% of the whole is waste (shells), but the re-
maining 50. 4*7; contains 1485 calories. That means that
about one-half of what is bought is waste, but the re-
mainder contains the number of calories named. That
we nuiy get the greatest amount of strength from our food
we must pay attention to the number of calories it cou-
15
448 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Fruits are an ideal diet. They are in fact evolved by
the trees to induce animal and man to eat them, so that
the seed nmv he disseminated, as flowers entice bees for a
similar pur})ose.
Fresh fruit contains water of the purest and best kind,
capal)le of permeating the system in a marvelous manner.
Grape juice is a particularly wonderful solvent. It thins
/jnd stimulates the blood, opening the way into capillaries
already dried and choked up — if the process has not gone
too far. By a course of unfermented grape-juice treat-
ment, people with sunken eyes, wrinkled skins and poor
complexions become plump, ruddy and lively. The in-
creased permeability enables the spirit to manifest more
freely and Avitli renewed energy. The following table,
which with the exception of the last column, is tgken
from the publications of the United States Department of
Agriculture, will give the aspirant some idea of the amount
it is necessary to eat for different degrees of activity, alsc
the constituents of the various foods named.
Considering the body from a purely physical standpoint,
it is what Ave might call a chemical furnace, the food being
tiie fuel. The more the body is exercised, the more fuel
it requires. It would be foolish for a man to change an
ordinary diet which for years had adequately nourished
him, and take up a new method without due thought as to
which would be the best for serving his purpose. To sim-
ply eliminate meats from the ordinary diet of meat-eaters
would unquestionably undermine the health of most per-
sons. The only safe way is to experiment and study the
matter out first, using due discrimination. No fixed rules
can be given, the matter of diet being as individual as any
other characteristic. All that can be done is to give the
table of food values and describe the general influence of
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 449
each cliemieal element, allowing the aspirant to work out
his own method.
Neither must we allow the appearance of a person tc
influence our judgment as to the condition of his liealth.
Certain general ideas of how a, healthy person should look
are commonly accepted, but there is no valid reason for so
judging. Euddy cheeks might be an indication of health
in one individual and of disease in another. There is no
particular rule by which good health can be known except
the feeling of comfort and well-being which is enjoyed by
the individual himself, irrespective of appearances.
Tlie tal)lc of foods here given deals Avith five chemical
com{)ounds.
Water is the great solvent.
Nitrogen or proteid is the essential builder of flesh, but
contains some earthy matter.
Car])o-hydiates or sugars arc the ])rincipal power-pro-
ducers.
Fats are the producers of heat and the storers of reserve
force.
Ash is mineral, earthy, and chokes the system. We need
have no fear of not obtaining it in sulTicient quantities to
build the bones; on the contrary, we cannot be too careful
to get as little as possible.
The calorie is the simple unit of heat, and the tabic
shows the uumber contained in each article of food when
bought at the market. In a pound of Brazil nuts, for in-
stance, -1:9.67( of the whole is waste (shells), but the re-
maining 50.4% contains 1485 calories. That means that
about one-half of what is bought is waste, but the re-
mainder contains the number of calories named. That
we may get the greatest amount of strength from our food
we must pay attention to the number of calories it con-
15
450
KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
tains, for from them we obtain the energy required to per-
form our daily work. The number of caJories necessary
to sustain the body under varying conditions is shown in
the following table :
Man at very hard muscular work .5500 Calories
Man at moderately hard muscular work 4150 "
Man at moderately active muscular work 340O "
Man at moderately liglit work 3050 "
Man at sedentary work 2700 ' '
Man without muscular exercise 2450 ' '
Woman at light to modern muscular work 2450 "
TABLE
OF
FOOD VALUES.
0)
m
hi
en
'a
Fuel value
in Calories
per lb.
Time re-
quired for
digestion
H. M.
FKl ITS. 1
Apples, dried 1 . . . .
28.1
03.3
29.4
48.0
81.1
13.8
18.8
58.0
62.5
44. S
03.4
70.0
Oli.l
13.1
85.8
44.2
85.9
94.0
't4 •{
1.6
0.3
4.7
0.8
0.7
1.9
4.3
1.0
0.7
0.3
0.<!
0.5
0.8
2.3
1.0
0.7
0.9
1.2
0.9
0.2
11.5
8.0
3.8
8.1
5.2
7.5
5.8
5.2
7.2
0.9
5.4
8.9
9.0
9.2
2.2
0.3
1.0
0.4
0.2
2.5
0.3
1.2
0.5
'it'.i
0.4
0.7
3.0
0.2
0.6
0.2
0.4
0.1
30.2
33.7
8.3
5.3
4.5
31.3
25.5
33.3
14.6
26.0
1.8
1.8
0.6
1.3
66.1
10.8
02.5
14.3
2.0
70.0
74.2
14.4
5.9
4.0
8 5
12.7
31.5
68.5
12.6
4.5
7.0
4.0
3.9
2.7
0.5
3.5
0.5
56.4
35.4
6.2
4.3
6.2
3.0
6.8
47.1
52.1
53.2
53.1
2.0
0.3
2.4
0.0
0.4
1.2
2.4
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.4
0.4
0.9
3.1
0.0
0.4
0.6
0.6
0.5
0.1
1.1
2.0
0.4
1.7
1.1
1.1
0.8
0.7
0.5
0.0
2.1
1.5
1.5
1.1
1185
100
1125
200
05
1275
1280
295
125
80
150
230
550
1205
220
100
150
95
100
50
1515
1485
385
1385
915
1430
1145
1405
730
12.')0
1040
1195
11 TO
1200
25.0
2:30
Apricots, dried
Bananas
Cucuinl>prs
Dates, dried
35.6
15.0
10.0
1:45
3:00
Grapes
Lemons
Mus^vmelons
25.0
30.0
50.0
27.1
10.0
io.6
so'.o
5.0
....
3:00
2:45
2:00
Persimmons (ediblepart)
Raisins, dried
Raspberries
4:00
1 3:45
1
2:45
Tomatoes, canned
2:00
2:00
Watermelons
NUTS.
Almonds
59.4
45.0
49.0
86 4
37.5
2.7
2.6
0.0
4.5
37.0
1.8
1.4
1.4
0.0
1.0
43.0
4 :00
4:00
4 :00
Chestnuts, dried
Chestnuts, fresh
Filberts
24.0
16.0
52 1
4 :00
02.2
53.2
74.1
58.1
4:00
l'(*f'ans
Walnuts, Black
Walnuts, English
GR.\INS.
Bread :
4:00
4 :00
4:00
4 :00
35.7
4 :00
35.7
35.3
4:00
White, fresh
4 :30
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE
451
TABLE OF FOOD VALUES (Continced)
White, stalf
Whole Wheat
Corn, green, sweet,
canned
Corn, green, swoet (edi-
ble part)
Cornmeal
Flour :
Buckwheat
Graham
Rye
Wheat (high grade I .
Wheat (low grade)..
Whole Wheal
Macaroni. Vermic<'l]i,cfc.
Oat Breakfast Food. . . .
Oyster Crackers
Uice
Soda Crackers
Starch
Wheat Breakfast F.)orl.
LKtJCMK.S
Beans, baked, canned. . .
Beans, dried | . . . .
Beans, Lima, shelled...!....
Beans, String 7.0
Peas, canned ....
Teas, dried 1 .. . .
Peas, shelled ... .
Peanuts (24.5
VEGKTABLKS.
Beefs 20.0
Cabbage ll,").0
Celery 1 20.0
rc.i
12.5
9.0
li^.O
10.0
20.0
20.0
40.0
20.0
I-ettuce
Onions
Parsnips
Potatoes
Rhubarb (pie plant)
Spinach
Sweet potatoes
Turnips i:j0.0
Str..\R3.
Candy, plain
Honey ,
Maple Syrup ,
Molasses
Sugar, granulnted. .
>(lSCKI,t..VNKor.S.
Chocolate
Coco.'iniits [48.8
Cocoanuts. prepared .......
Cocoa, powdered ....
Mushrooms I . . . .
T!ipio<'n I . . .
T4.
6.!
70.^
77.
7."
80
fi2
fifl
6
.'ifi
!)2,
l.->.5.
t',2.
9.2
9.7
.S.l
9.2
6.4
l.S.,3
(l.H
11.4
14.0
13.8
1,3.4
10.7
11.3
8.0
9.8
12.1
6.9
22. r>
7.1
2.1
3.6
24.15
7.0
lO.ri
1.3
1.3
0.9
1.0
1.4
1.3
l.S
0.4
2.1
1.4
0.9
1.3
0.9
1.2
1.1
1.9
1.2
1.9
0.9
1.0
1.9
1.9
0.9
7.3
10..^)
0.3
9.1
12.9
2.9
6.3
21.6
3.,'"!
0.4
2..5
1.8
0.7
0.3
0.2
l.(t
0..")
29.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.1
0.4
0.3
0.6
0.1
48.7
2,"..9
.">7.4
28.9
0.4
0.1
53.1
49.7
19.0
19.7
75.4
77.9
71.4
78.7
75.1
71.2
71.9
74.1
66.2!
70.5
79.0
73.1
90.0
1.1
1.3
0.9
0.7
1.0
0.9
1.8
0.7
0.5
0.9
1.0
1.3
2.1
2.9
0.4
2.1
(0.2
19.6
59.6
22.0
0.9
9.8
62.0
16.9
18.5
7.7
4.8
2.6
2.5
8.9
10.8
14.7
X2
21.9
96.0
81.0
71.4
"O.o
IdO.O
30.3
14.3
3K5
37.7
6.8
88.0 1
1.3
2.1
3.5
1.7
0.7
1.1
2.9
1.0
1.5
0.9
0.9
0.8
0.8
0.5
1.1
0.8
0.4
2.1
0.9
0.(t
2.21
0.91
1.3 1
i;H!
O.I I
1200
1139
430
440
1635
1605
1045
1020
1635
1640
1650
1645
1800
1910
1620
1875
1675
1680
555
1520
540
170
235
1.505
440
1775
100
115
65
65
190
230
295
60
95
440
120
16.80
1420
1250
1225
1750
5025
1 295
2805
2160
1S5
lO.'.O
3 :3o
4.00
3 :45
3:45
3 :00
1 :0o
3 :45
3 :45
3:30
2:.35
3:45
4:30
3:15
2 :05
3:30
3 :30
4 :00
1 :2o
453 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CO.N'CEPTION
According to this table, it is evident that chocolate is
the most nutritious food we have; also that cocoa, in its
powdered state, is the most dangerous of all foods, contain-
ing three times as much ash as most of the others, and ten
times as much as many. It is a powerful food and also a
powerful poison, for it chokes the system more quickly
than any other substance.
Of course, it will require some study at first to secure
the best nourishment, but it pays in health and longevity
and secures the free use of tlie body, making study and
application to higher things possible. After a while the
aspirant will become so familiar with the subject that he
will need to give it no particular attention.
While the foregoing table shows the proportion of chem-
ical substances contained in each article of food named, it
must be remembered tliat not all of this is available for
use in the system, because there are certain portions which
the body refuses to assimilate.
Of vegetables we digest only about 83% of the proteids,
90% of the fat, and OS'/r of the carbo-hydrates^
Of fruits we assimilate about 85% of the proteids, 90%
of the fat, and 90% of the carbo-hydrates.
The brain is the co-ordinating mechanism whereby the
movements of the body are controlled and our . ideas are
expressed. It is built of the same substances as are all
other parts of the body, with the addition of phosphorus,
which is peculiar to the brain alone.
The logical conclusion is that phosphorus is the particu-
lar element by means of which the Ego is able to express
thought and influence the dense physical bod3\ It is also
a fact that the proportion and variation of this substance
is found to correspond to the state and stage of intelligence
of the individual. Idiots have very little phosphorus;
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 453
shrewd thinkers liave much; and in the animal worhl, the
degree of consciousness and intelligence is in proportion
to the amount of phosphorus contained in the brain.)
It is therefore of great importance that the aspirant
who is to use his body for mental and spiritual work,
should supply his brain with the substance necessary for
that purpose. Most vegetables and fruits contain a certain
amount of phosphorus, but it is a peculiar fact that the
greater proportion is contained in the leaves, which are
usually thrown away. It is found in considerable (pumti-
ties in grapes, onions, sage, beans, cloves, pineapples, in
the leaves and stalks of many vegetables, and also in sugar-
cane juice, but not in refined sugar.
The following taljle shows the proportions of phosphoric
acid in a few articles :
100,000 PARTS OF :
Barley, Jry, contain, of phosphoric acid, 210 parta
Beans 29:2 ' '
Beets 167 "
Beets, Leaves of. 690 ' '
Buckwheat 170 "
Carrots, dry 395 ' '
Carrots, Leave.s of 963 ' '
Linseed 880 * '
Linseed, Stalks of 118 "
Parsnips Ill "
Parsnips, Leaves of 1784 ' '
Peas 190 "
The gist of the preceding argument may lie thus siu-
cinctly stated :
(1) The body, throughout tiie entire period of life, is
subject to a process of consolidation.
(2) This process consists of the depositing by the blood
of earthy substances, principally phosphate and carbonate
of lime, by which the various })arts become ossified, rnn-
verted into bone, or kindred matter.
454 KOSICEUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
(3) This conversion into bone destroys the flexibility
of the vessels, muscles and other parts of the body subject
to motion. It thickens the blood and entirely chokes up
the minute capillaries, so that the circulation of the fluids
and the action of the system generally diminishes, tiie
termination of this process being death.
(4) This process of consolidation may be retarded and
life prolonged by carefully avoiding the foods that contain
much ash; by using distilled water for internal purposes;
and by promoting excretion through the skin by means of
frequent baths.
Tiie foregoing explains why some religions prescribe
frecjuent ablutions as a religious exercise, because they pro-
mote the health and purify the dense body. Fastings were
also prescribed for the same purpose. They give the stom-
ach a much-needed rest, allow the body to eliminate the
effete nuitter, and thus, if not to frequent or too prolonged,
promote the health, but usually as much and more can be
acconiplisihed by giving the body proper foods which are
the best medicines.
Alwa3'S the first care of the physician is to ascertain if
there is proper excretion, that being Nature's chief means
for ridding the body of the poisons contained in all foods.
In conclusion, let the aspirant choose such food as is
most easily digested, for the more easily the energy in
food is extracted, the longer time will the system have for
recuperation before it becomes necessary to replenish the
supply. Milk should never be drunk as one may drink a
glass of water. Taken in that way, it forms in the stomach
a large cheese-ball, quite impervious to the action of the
gastric juices. It should be sipped, as we sip tea or coffee.
It will then form many small globules in the stomach,
which are easily assimilated. Properly used, it is one of
ACQUIKIXG FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 455
the best possible articles of diet. Citrus fruits are ]x>wcr-
ful antiseptics, and cereals, particularly rice, are antitoxins
of great efficiency.
Having now explained, from the purely material point
of view, what is necessary for the dense body, we will con-
sider the subject from the occult side, taking into con-
sideration the effect on the two invisible bodies which in-
terpenetrate the dense body.
The particular stronghold of the desire body is in the
muscles and the cerebro-spinal nervous system, as already
shown. The energy displayed by a person when la])oring
under great excitement or anger is an example of this. At
such times the whole muscular S3'^stem is tense and no hard
labor is so exhausting as a "fit of temper." It sometimes
leaves the body prostrated for weeks. There can l)e seen
the necessity for improving the desire body by controlling
the temper, thus sparing the dense body the suft'ering re-
sulting from the ungoverned action of the desire body.
Looking at the matter from an occult standpoint, all
consciousness in the Physical World is the result of the
constant war between the desire and the vital bodies.
The tendency of the vital lx)dy is to soften and l)uiid.
Tts chief expression is the blood and the glands, also the
sympathetic nervous system, having obtained ingress into
the stronghold of the desire body (the muscular and tlic
voluntary nervous systems) when it began to develop the
heart into a voluntary muscle.
The tendency of the desire body is to harden, and it in
turn has invaded the realm of the vital body, gaining pos-
session of the spleen and making the white blood cor
puscles, ■which are not "the policemen of the system" as
science now thinks, but destroyers. It uses the blood to
carry these tiny destroyers all over the body. They pass
456 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONXEPTIOX
through tlie walls of arteries and veins whenever annoy-
ance is felt, and especially in times of great anger. Then
the rush of forces in the desire hody makes the arteries
and veins swell and opens the way for the passage of the
white corpuscles into the tissues of the body, where they
form bases for the earthy matter which kills the l)ody.
Given the same amount and kind of food, the person of
serene and jovial disposition will live longer, enjoy better
health, and be more active than the person who worries, or
loses his temper. The latter will make and distribute
through his body more destructive white corpuscles than
the former. Were a scientist to analyze the bodies of these
two men, he would find that there was considerably less
earthy matter in the body of the kindly-disposed man than
in tliat of tlie scold.
This destruction is constantly going on and it is not
possible to keep all the destroyers out, nor is such the
intention. If the vital body had uninterrupted sway, it
would l)uild and build, using all the energy for that pur-
pose. There would be no consciousness and thought. It
is ])ecause the desire body checks and hardens the inner
parts that consciousness develops.
There was a time in the far, far past when we set out
the concretions, as do the mollusks, leaving the body soft,
flexible and boneless, but at that time we had only the
dull, glimmering consciousness the mollusks now have.
Before we could advance, it became necessary to retain
the concretions and it will be found that the stage of
consciousness of any species is in proportion to the de-
velopment of the bony framework within. The P]go must
have the solid bones with the semi-fluid red marrow, in
order to be able to build the red blood-corpuscles for its
expression.
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 457
That is the highest development of the dense body. It
signifies nothing in this connection that tlie liighest class
of animals have an internal bone formation similar to
man's, but still have no indwelling si)irit. They belong to
a different stream of evolution.
The Law of Assimilation.
The law of assimilation allows no particle to be built
into our bodies that we, as spirits, have not overcome
and made subject to ourselves. The forces active along
these lines are, as we remember, principally our "dead,"
who have entered "heaven" and are learning there to
build bodies to use here, but they work according to
certain laws that they cannot circumvent. There is life
in every particle of food that we take into our bodies, and
before we can build that life into our bodies by the proc-
ess of assimilation, we must overcome and make it
subject to ourselves. Otherwise there could be no harmony
in the body. Each part would act independently, as they
do when the co-ordinating life has been withdrawn. That
would be what we call decay, the process of disintegration,
which is the direct opposite of assimilation. The more
individualized is the particle to be assimilated, the more
energy will it require to digest it and the shorter time
will it remain before seeking to reassert itself.
Human beings are not organized in such a manner that
they can live upon solid minerals. When a purely mineral
substance, such as salt, is eaten, it passes through the
])ody leaving behind it but very little waste. What it
does leave, however, is of a very injurious character. If
it were possible for man to use minerals as food, they
would be ideal for that purpose l)ecause of their stability
and the little energy required to overcome and subject
458 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
them to the life of the body. We should be compelled
to eat very much less in quantity and also less often than
we now do. Our laboratories will some time supply us
with chemical food of a quality far surpassing anything
that we now have, which shall be always fresh. Food
obtained from tlie higher plants and still more from the
yet liigher animal kingdom, is positively nauseating 1:>e-
cause of the rapidity of decay. This process is caused
by the efforts made by the individual particles to esca]3e
from the composite whole.
The plant kingdom is next above the mineral. It lias
an organization capable of assimilating the mineral com-
pounds of the Earth. Man and animal can assimilate
the plants and thus obtain the chemical compounds neces-
sary to sustain their bodies and as the consciousness of
the plant kingdom is that of dreamless sleep, it offers
no resistance. It requires but little energy to assimilate
the particles thus derived and having small individuality
of their own, the life ensouling the particles does not
seek to escape from our body as soon as food derived from
more highly developed forms, therefore the strength de-
rived from a diet of fruit and vegetables is more enduring
than that derived from a meat diet, and the food supply
does not require as frequent replenishing, besides giving
more strength in proportion, because less energy is re-
quired for assimilation.
Food composed of the bodies of animals consists of
particles which have been worked upon and inter-pene-
trated by an individual desire body, and have thus Ijeen
individualized to a much greater extent than the, plant
particles. There is an individual cell-soul, which is per-
meated by the passions and desires of the animal. It
requires considerable energy to overcome it in the first
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 459
place, so that it may be assimilated, yet it never Incomes
so fully incorporated into the polity of the body as do
the plant constituents, which have no such str()n<,r indi-
vidual tendencies. The result is that it is necessary for
the flesh-oater to consume a greater weight of food than
is required by the fruitarian; also he must eat oftener.
Moreover, this inward strife of the particles of flesh causes
greater wear and tear of the body in general, rendering
the meat-eater less active and capable of endurance than
the vegetarian, as all contests between advocates of the
two methods have demonstrated.
Therefore, when flesh-food derived from the herbivora
is such an unstable diet, it is evident that if we should
try to use the flesh of carnivorous animals, in which the
cells are still further individualized, we would be forced
to consume enormous quantities of food. Eating would
occupy the greater part of our time, but notwithstanding
that fact, we would always be lean and hungry. That
such is its effect, can be seen in the wolf and the vulture;
their leanness and hunger are proverbial. Cannibals eat
human flesh, but only at long intervals and as a luxury.
As man does not confine himself exclusively to a meat
diet, his flesh is not that of an entirely carnivorous l)east,
nevertheless the hunger of the cannibal has also Wome
the burden of a proverb.
Tf the flesh of the herbivora were the essence of what
is good in plants, then, logically, the Hesh of the carniv-
ora should be the quintessence. The meat of wolves
and vultures would thus be the creme de la creme, and
muc]\ to l)e desired. This we know is not the case, but
quite the reverse. The nearer we get to the plant king-
dom, the more strength we derive from our food. Tf the
reverse w€re the case, the flesh of carnivorous animals
460 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
would ho smiglit hv other beasts of i)rc'v, but examples'
of ''(log eat dog"" are very few throughout nature.
Live and Let Live,
The first law of occult science is "Thou shalt not kill,"
and that sliould have the greatest weight with the aspirant
to the higher life. We cannot create so much as one
particle of dust, therefore what right have we to destroy
the very least form. All Form is an expression of the
One Life — the Life of God. We have no right to destroy
the Form through which the life is seeking experience,
and force it to build a new vehicle.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, with the true compassion of all
far-advanced souls, champions this occult maxim, in the
following beautiful words:
I am the voice of the voiceless;
Through me the dumb shall speak
Till a (leaf world 's ear
Shall be made to hear
The wrongs of the wordless weak.
The same force formed the sparrow
That fashioned man, the king.
The God of the WJwle
Gave a spark of soul
To furred and feathered thing.
And I am nu/ brother's keeper;
And I will fight his fight,
And sj)eak tlie word
For beast and bird
Till the world shall set things right.
Sometimes the objection is made that life is also taken
when vegetables and fruits are eaten, but that statement
is based upon a complete misunderstanding of the facts.
When the fruit is ripe, it has accomplished its purpose,
which is to act as a womb for the ripening of the seed.
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 4GI
If not eaten, it decays and goes to waste. Moreover, it
is designed to serve as food for the animal and human
kingdoms, thus affording the seed oportunities for growth
by scattering it in fertile soil. Besides, just as the ovum
and the semen of human lyings are ineffectual without the
seed-atom of the reincarnating Ego and the matrix of
its vital body, so any e^^g or seed, of itself, is devoid of
life. If it is given the proper conditions of incubator or
soil, the life of the group-spirit is then poured into it,
thus grasping the opportunity so afforded of producing
a dense body. If the egg or seed is cooked, crushed, or not
given the conditions necessary for the life, the opportunity
is lost, but that is all.
At the present stage of the evolutionary journey, every-
one knows inherently that it is wrong to kill and man
will love and protect the animals in all cases where his
greed and selfish interest does not blind him to their
rights. The law protects even a cat or a dog against
wanton cmelty. Except in "s})ort,'' that most wanton of
all our cruelties against the animal creation, it is always
for the sake of money that animals are murdered and
bred to be murdered. By the devotees of "sport" the
helpless creatures are shot down to no purpose save to
bolster up a false idea of prowess upon the part of the
huntsman. It is hard to understand how people who ap-
pear otherwise sane and kindly can, for the time, trample
upon all their gentler instincts and revert to bloodthirsty
savagery, killing for the sheer hist of lilood and joy in
destruction. It is certainly a reversion to the lowest
savage animal instincts, and can never be dignified into
the remotest semblance of anything "manly." oven though
practiced and defended by the otherwise humane and
worthy temporary head of a mighty nation.
463 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CO^X■EPTION
How much more beautiful it would be for man to play
the role of friend and protector of the weak. Who does
not love to visit Central Park in New York City and pet,
stroke and feed the hundreds of squirrels which are run-
ning about secure in the knowledge that they will not be
molested? And who is not glad, for the sake of the
squirrels, to see the sign, "Dogs found chasing the squir-
rels will be shot." This is hard on the dogs, but it is
t^ be commended as an evidence of the growth of the senti-
ment favoring the protection of the weak against the
unreasoning or merciless strong. Nothing is said on the
sign about the squirrels being injured by men, because
that would be unthinkable. So strong is the influence of
the trust the little animals repose in the kindness of man,
that no one would violate it.
The Lord's Prayer.
Eeturning to our consideration of the spiritual aids
to human progress, the Lord's Prayer, which may be
considered as an abstract, algebraical formula for the up-
liftment and purification of all tlie vehicles of man, the
idea of taking proper care of the dense body is expressed
in the words: "Give us this day our daily bread."
The prayer dealing with the needs of the vital body
is, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us."
Tlie vital body is the seat of memory. In it are stored
the sub-conscious records of all the past events of our
life, good or ill, including all injuries inflicted or sus-
tained and benefits received, or bestowed. We remember
that the record of the life is taken from those pictures
immediately after leaving the dense body at death, and
ACQUIRING FIRSTHAND KNOWLEDGE 463
that all the sufferings of jujst mortem existence are the
results of the events these pictures portray.
If, by continual prayer, we obtain forgiveness for the
injuries we have iullicted upon others and if we make
all the restitution jjossible, purify our vital bodies by
forgiving those who have wronged us, and eliminate all
ill-feeling, we save ourselves much jxyst mortem misery,
besides preparing the way for Universal Brotherhood,
which is particularly dependent upon the victory of the
vital body over the desire body. In the form of memory,
the desire body impresses upon the vital body the idea of
revenge. An even temper amid tlie various annoyances of
daily life indicates such a victory, therefore the aspirant
should cultivate control of the temjier, as it includes work
on both bodies. The Lord's Prayer includes this also,
for when we see that we are injuring others, we look
about and try to find the cause. Loss of temper is one
of the causes and it originates in the desire body.
Most people leave physical life with the same tempera-
ment they bring into it, but the aspirant must systematic-
ally conquer all attempts of the desire body to assume"
mastery. That can be done by concentration upon high
ideals, which strengthens the vital body and is much more
efficacious than the common prayers of the Church. The
occult scientist uses concentration in preference to prayer,
because the former is accomplished by the aid of the mind,
which is cold and unfeeling, whereas prayer is usually
dictated by emotion. Whore it is dictated by a pure un-
selfish devotion to high ideals prayer is much higher than
cold concentration. It can never l)c cold, but liears upon
the pinions of Love the outpouring'^ of <1h^ mystic t<i the
Deity.
The prayer for the desire body is, '"Lead us not into
464 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
temptation." Desire is the great tempter of mankind.
It is the great incentive to all action, and in so far as the
actions subserve the purposes of the spirit, it is good ; but
where the desire is for something degrading, something
that debases the nature^ it is indeed meet that we pray
not to be led into temptation.
Love, Wealth, Power, and Fame ! — These are the four
great motives of human action. Desire for one or more
of these is the motive for all that man does or leaves un-
done. The great Leaders of humanity have wisely given
them as incentives to action, that man may gain experi-
ence and learn thereby. They are necessary, and the
aspirant may safely continue to use them as motives for
action, but he must transmute them into sometliing higher.
He must overcome with nobler aspirations the selfish love
which seeks the ownership of another Body, and all de-
sires for wealth, power and fame for narrow and personal
reasons.
The Love for which he must long is that only which
is of the soul and embraces all l^eings, high and low, in-
creasing in proportion to the needs of the recipient;
The Wealth, that which consists solely of abundance of
opportunities to serve his fellow men;
The Power, that alone which makes for the upliftment
of humanity ;
The Fame, none save that whieli increases his ability
to spread the good news, that all wlio suffer may thus
quickly find solace for the heart's grief.
The prayer for the mind is "Deliver us from evil." We
have seen that mind is the link between the higher and
the lower natures. Animals are permitted to follow de-
sire without any restriction whatever. In their case, there
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 465
is neither good nor evil, because fhey l«ick mind, the
faculty of discrimination. The method of self-protection
which we pursue in regard to animals which kill and steal
is different from that which we use in relation to human
beings who do the same things. Even a human being who
is bereft of mind is not held accountable. The fact is
recognized that he does not know he is doing wrong,
therefore he is simply restrained.
It was only when his mental eyes were opened that man
came to know good and evil. "When the link of mind be-
comes allied to the Higher Self and does its bidding, we
have the high-minded person. On the contrary, the coali-
tion of the mind with the lower desire nature produces
the low-minded person ; therefore the meaning of this
prayer is that we may be delivered from the experience
resulting from the alliance of the mind with the desire
body, with all thereby implied.
The aspirant to the higher life accomplishes the union
of the higher and the lower natures by means of ^ledita-
tion on lofty subjects. This union is further cemented by
Contemplation, and both these states are transcended by
Adoration, which lifts the spirit to the very Throne.
The Lord's Prayer, given for the general use of the
Church, gives Adoration first place, in order to reach
the spiritual exaltation necessary to proffer a petition
representing the needs of the lower vehicles. Each asjwct
of the threefold spirit, commencing with the lowest, raises
itself in adoration to its corresponding aspect of Deity.
When the three aspects of the spirit are all arrayed before
the Throne of Grace, each utters the prayer appropriate
to the needs of its material counterpart, all three joining
in the closing prayer for the mind.
466 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-COMCEPTION
The human spirit soars to its countei-part, the Hoi}'
Spirit (Jehovah), saying "Hallowed be Thy 2sanie."
The life spirit bows before its counterpart, The Son
(Christ), saying "Thy Kingdom Come."
The divine spirit kneels before its counterpart. The
Father, w^ith the prayer, "Thy Will be done.'"
Then the highest, the divine spirit, petitions the
highest aspect of the Deity, the Father, for its counter-
part, the dense body : "Give us this day our daily bread."
The next highest, the life spirit, prays to its counter-
part, the Son, for its counterpart in the lower nature,
the vital body : "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us."
The lowest aspect of the spirit, the human spirit, next
offers its petition to the lowest aspect of Deity for the
highest of the threefold bodies, the desire body: "Lead
us not into temptation."
Lastly, in unison, all three aspects of the threefold
spirit in man join in tlie most important of the prayers,
the petition for the mind, in the words: "Deliver us from
evil."
The introduction, "Our Father Who art in Heaven "
is merely as the address on an envelope. The addition,
"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the
Glory, forever. Amen," was not given by Christ, but is
very appropriate as the parting adoration of the three-
fold spirit as it closes its direct address to the Deity.
Diagram 16 illustrates the foregoing explanation in a
simple and easily remembered manner, showing the con-
nection between the different prayers and the correspond-
ing vfliicles, which are similarly colored. This diagram
is inserted opposite the title page.
I
ACQUIEING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 467
The Vow of Celibacy.
The sex-pervert, or sex-maniac, is a proof of the cor-
rectness of the contention of occultists that one part of
the sex-force builds the brain. He becomes an idiot,
unable to think because of drawing and sending out, not
only the negative or positive part of the sex-force (ac-
cording to whether male or female) which is nonnally
to be used through the sex-organ for propagation, but
in addition to that, some of the for^e which should build
up the brain, enabling it to produce thought — hence the
mental deficiency.
On the other hand, if the person is given to spiritual
thought, the tendency to use the sex-force for propagation
is slight, and whatever part of it is not used in that way
may be transmuted into spiritual force.
That is why the initiate, at a certain stage of develop-
ment, takes the vow of coliliacy. It is not an easy vow,
nor one to be lightly taken by one desirous of spiritual
advancement. Many i)cople who are not yet ripe for the
higher life have ignorantly bound themselves to a life of
asceticism. They are as dangerous to the community and
to themselves on the one hand as is the imlxvile sex-
maniac on the other.
At the present stage of human evolution the sex func-
tion is the means whereby bodies are provided, through
which the spirit can gain experience. The people who
are most prolific and follow the creative impulse un-
reservedly are the lowest classes: thus it is difficult for
incoming entities to find good vehicles amid environments
enabling them to unfold their faculties in such a manner
as to permanently benefit themselves and tbe rest of
humanity, for among the wealthier classes who could
furnish more favorable conditions manv have few or no
468 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
children. It is not because tliey live abstemious sex-
lives, but for the entirely selfish reasons that they may
have more ease and leisure and indulge in unlimited sex-
gratification without the burden of a family. Among the
less-wealthy middle class, families are also restricted, but
in their case partially for economic reasons, that they
may give one or two children educational and other ad-
vantages that their means would not permit them to give
to four or five.
Thus man exercises his divine prerogative of bringing
disorder into nature. Incoming Egos must take the oppor-
tunities offered them sometimes under unfavorable circum-
stances. Other Egos who cannot do that, must wait till
favorable environment offers. Thus do we affect one an-
other by our actions and thus are the sins of the fathers
visited upon the children, for as the Holy Spirit is the
creative energy in nature, the sex energy is its reflection
in man, and misuse or abuse of that power is the sin that
is not forgiven, but must be expiated in impaired efficiency
of the vehicles, in order to thoroughly teach us the
sanctity of the creative force.
Aspirants to the higher life, filled with an earnest
desire to live a noble spiritual life, often regard the sex-
function with horror, because of the harvest of misery
which humanity has reaped as a result of its abuse. They
are apt to turn in disgust from what they regard as im-
purity, overlooking the fact that it is precisely such peo-
ple as they who (having brought their vehicles into good
condition liy means of proper sanitary food, high and
lofty thought, and pure and spiritual lives) are best
fitted to generate the dense bodies essential to the develop-
ment of entities seeking incarnation. It is common knowl-
edge among occult scientists that, to the detriment of the
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWT^EDGE 469
race, many high-class Egos are kept out of incarnation
at the present time solely because parents cannot Ije found
who are pure enough to provide them with the necessary
physical vehicles.
Persons Avho, for the reason above mentioned, refrain
from doing their duty to humanity, are magnifying the
sun-spots to such an extent that they forget to see the
Sun itself! The sex-function has its great place in the
economy of the world. When projxjrly used, there is no
greater boon to the Ego, for it then provides pure and
healthful bodies such as man needs for his development :
conversely, when abused, there is no greater curse, for it
is then the source of the worst ills to which flesh is heir.
It is a truism that "no man liveth unto himself." By
our words and acts we are constantly affecting others.
By the proper performance, or the neglect of our duty,
we make or mar the lives, first, of those in our immediate
environment, but ultimately of all the inhabitants of the
Earth, and more. No one has a right to seek the higher
life without having performed his duty to his family,
his country, and the human race. To selfishly set aside
everything else and live solely for one's own spiritual
advancement, is as reprehensible as not to care for the
spiritual life at all. Nay. it is worse; for those who do
their duty in the ordinary life to ilie best of their ability,
devoting themselves to the welfare of those dej>endent
upon them, are cultivating the essential (juality of faith-
fulness. They will certainly advance in due time to a
point where they will become awake to spiritual necessi-
ties, and will carry to that work the faithfulness developed
elsewhere. The man who delilnM-ately turns his back upon
his present duties to take up the spiritual life will surely
be forced back into the path of duty from which ho has
470 ROSICKUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
mistakenly diverged, with no })oppil)le means of escape
until the lesson has been learned.
Certain tribes of India make the following excellent
division of life. The first twenty years are spent in ob-
taining an edi;cation; the years from 20 to 40 are devoted
to the duty of raising a family; and the remaining time
is devoted to spiritual development, wdthout any physical
cares to harass or distract the mind.
During the first period the child is supported by its
parents; during the second period the man, in addition
to supporting his own family, cares for his parents while
they are giving their attention to higher things; and
during the balance of his life, he is in turn supported
by his children.
This seems a very sensible method, and is quite satis-
factory in a country where all, from the cradle to the
grave, feel the spiritual need, to such degree that they
mistakenly neglect material development except as im-
pelled by the lash of direst need, and where the children
cheerfully support their parents, secure in the knowledge
that they will be supported in turn and thus be enabled
to devote themselves entirely to tlie higher life after hav-
ing performed their duty to their country and to humanity.
In the Western "World, however, where no spiritual need
is at present felt by the average man because he is prop-
erly following material lines of development, such a mode
of life would be impossible of realization.
Spiritual desire never comes until the time is ripe, and
always when the particular conditions obtain under which
we must seek its gratification, if at all. Whatever duties
exist which are apparent restrictions must be borne. If
the care of a family jirevcnts the complete consecration
desired, the aspirant would certainly not be justified in
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOW^LEDGE 471
neglecting duty and devoting tlie entire time and energy
to spiritual purpot^es. An etlort must be made to gratify
such aspirations ■without interfering with duty to family.
If the desire to live a celibate life comes to a person
who liolds marriage relations witli another, the obligations
of such relations are not to be forgotten. It would be
very wrong, by practicing celibacy under snch circum-
stances, to endeavor to escape from the proper perform-
ance of duty. As to what constitutes duty in regard to
coition, however, there is a standard for aspirants to the
higher life different from that of the ordinary man or
woman.
Most people regard marriage as sanctioning unlimited
license for the gratification of sexual desire. In the eyes
of statute law, perhaps it does so, but no man-made law
nor custom has any right to govern this matter. Occult
science teaches that the sex-function should never be used
for sense-gratification, but for propagation only. There-
fore an aspirant to the bigher life would Ije justified in
refusing coition with the marriage partner unless the
object were the begetting of a child, and then only if both
parties were in jierfect liealth — physically, morally and
mentally — as otherwise the union would be likely to re-
sult in the generation of a feeble or degenerate body.
Each person owns his or her body, and is responsi])ie
to the law of Consequence for any misuse resulting from
the weak-willed abandonment of that body to another.
In the light of the foregoing, and looking at the matter
from the viewpoint of occult science, it is both a duty
and a privilege (to l)e exercised with thanks for the
opportunity) for all persons who are liealthy and of sound
mind to provide vehicles for as many entities as is con-
sistent with their health and ability to care for the same.
472 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
•
And, as previously stated, most particularly are aspirants
to the higher life under obligation in this respect, on ac-
count of the purification which their purer lives have
wrought in their bodies, because of which they are better
qualified than ordinary humanity to generate pure vehicles.
Thus they enable high-class entities to find suitable
vehicles and help humanity to advance by affording these
waiting Egos opportunities to incarnate and exercise their
influence at an earlier period than would otherwise be
possible.
If the sex-force is used in the way indicated, coition
will take place but few times in a life, and practically the
entire sex-force may be used for spiritual purposes. It
is not the use, but the abuse that causes all the trouble
and interferes with the spiritual life, so there is no need
for anyone to abandon the higher life because he or she
cannot be celibate. It is not necessary to be strictly celi-
bate while going through the lesser Initiations. The vow
of absolute celibacy applies to the greater Initiations only,
and even then a single act of fecundation may sometimes
be necessary as an act of sacrifice, as was tlie case in pro-
viding a body for Christ.
It may also be said that it is worse to suffer from a
burning desire, to be constantly thinking vividly of the
gratification of sense, than to live the married life in
moderation. Christ taught that unchaste thoughts are
as bad as, and even worse than unchaste acts, because
thoughts may be repeated indefinitely, whereas there is at
least some limit to acts.
The aspirant to tlie higher life can be successful only
in proportion to the extent of the subjugation of the lower
nature, but should beware of the other extreme.
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 473
The PiTLiTAHY Body and the Tineal Gland.
In the brain, and in approximately the positions shown
in diagram 17, are two small organs called the pituitary
body and the pineal gland. Medical science knows but
little about these, or the other ductless glands of the body.
It calls the pineal gland "the atrophied third eye,*' yet
neither it nor the pituitary body are atrophying. This
is very perplexing to scientists, for nature retains nothing
useless. All over the body we find organs which are either
a^;rophying or developing, the former being milestones,
as it were, along the path which man has traveled to reach
his present stage of development, the latter pointing out
the lines for future improvement and development. F(ir
instance, the muscles which animals nsc to move tlie ears
are present in man also, but as they are atrophying, few
people can use them. The heart l)elongs to the class
indicating future development; as already shown, it is
becoming a voluntary muscle.
The pituitary body and the pineal gland Ijelong to still
another class of organs, which at the present time are
neither evolving nor degenerating, but are dormant. In
the far past, when man was in touch with the '"inner"
Worlds, these organs were his means of ingress thereto,
and they will again serve that jnirjiovK^ at a later stage.
They were connected with the involuntary or sympatlietio
nervous system, Man then saw the inner Worlds, as in
the Moon Period and the latter part of tlie Lemurinn and
early Atlantean Epochs. Pictures presented themselves
quite independent of his will. The sense-centers of his
desire body were sjiinning around counter-clockwise (fol-
lowing negatively the motion of the Eartli, which revolves
on its axis in that direction) as the sense-centers of
474 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
"mediums" do to this day. In most people these sense-
centers are inactive, but true development will set them
spinning clockwise, as explained elsewhere. That is the
difficult feature in the development of positive clairvoy-
ance.
The development of mediumship is much easier, be-
cause it is merely a revival of the mirror-like function
possessed by man in the far past, by which the outside
world was involuntarily reflected in him, and which func-
tion was afterward retained by inbreeding. With present-
day mediums this power is intermittent, which explains
why they can sometimes "see" and at other times, for no
apparent reason, fail utterly. Occasionally, the strong
desire of the client enables them to get into touch with
the information he is seeking, on which occasions they
see correctly, but they are not always honest. Office rent
and other expenses must be paid, so when the power
(over which they have no conscious control) fails them,
some resort to fraud and utter any absurdity that occurs
to their minds, in order to satisfy their client and get his
money, thus casting discredit upon what they really do
see at other times.
The aspirant to true spiritual sight and insight must
first of all give proof of unselfishness, because the trained
clairvoyant has no "off days." He is not in the least
mirror-like, dependent upon the reflections which may
happen to come his way. He is able to reach out at any
time and in any diix'ctinn. and read the thoughts and
plans of others, provided he particularly turns his atten-
tion that way — not otherwise.
The great danger to society which would result from
the indiscriminate use of this power if possessed by an un-
worthy individual, can be easily understood. He would
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476 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
be able to read the most secret thought. Therefore the
initiate is bound by the most solemn vows never to use
this power to serve his individual interest in the -slightest
degree, nor to save himself a pang. He may feed five thou-
sand otiiers if he will, but he must not turn a stone into
bread to appease his own hunger. He may heal others of
palsy and leprosy, but by the Law of the Universe, he is
forbidden to stanch his own mortal wounds. Because he
is bound by his vow of absolute unselfishness, it is ever
true of tlie Initiate that although he saves others, himself
he cannot save.
So the trained clairvoyant who really has something to
give will never hang out a sign offering to exercise his
gifts for a fee, but will give and give freely where he con-
siders it consistent with the ripe destiny generated under
the law of consequence by the person to he helped.
Trained clairvoyance is the kind used for investigating
occult facts, and it is the only kind that is of any use for
that purpose. Therefore the aspirant must feel, not a wish
to gratify an idle curiosity, but a holy and unselfish desire
to help humanity. Until such a desire exists, no progress
can be made in the attainment of positive clairvoyance.
In the ages that have passed since the Lemurian Epoch
humanity has been gradually building the cerebro-spinal
nervous system, which is under the control of the will. In
the latter part of the Atlantean Epoch, this was so far
evolved that it became possible for the Ego to take full pos-
session of the dense body. That was the time (previously
described) when the point in the vital body came into cor-
respondence with the point at the root of the nose in the
dense body and the indwelling spirit became awake in the
Physical "World but, so far as the greater part of humanity
was concerned, lost consciousness of the inner "Worlds.
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 477
Since then, the connection of tlie pineal gland and the
pituitary body with the cerehr()-P{)inal nervous system has
been slowly building, and is now all hut complete.
To regain contact with the inner Worlds, all that re-
mains to be done is the reawakening of the pituitary body
and tiie pineal gland. A\ lion that is accomplished, man
will again possess tlie faculty of perception in the higher
worlds, but on a grander scale than formerly, becau.^e it
will be in connection with the voluntary nervous system
and therefore under the control of his Will. Through this
inner perceptive faculty all avenues of knowledge will 1)6
opened to him and he will have at his service a means of
accjuiring information compared with which all other
metiiods of investigation are but child's play.
The awakening of these organs is accomplished by Eso-
teric Training, which we will now describe, as far as may
be done in public.
Esoteric Training.
In the majority of people, the greater part of the sex-
force which may legitiuiatcly be used through the creative
organs is expended for sense-gratification ; therefore \v
such people there is very little of the ascending c\irrent
shown in diagram 17.
When the aspirant to the higher life begins to curb these
excesses more and more, and to devote his attention to
spiritual thouglits and efforts, the trained clairvoyant can
perceive the unused sex-force commencing to ascend. It
surges upward in stronger and stronger volume, along the
path indicated l)y the arrows in diagram 17, traversing
the heart and the larynx or the spinal cord and the larynx
or both, and then j^assing directly between the pituitary
body and the pineal gland toujird the dark point at tlie
478 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-COKCEPTluX
root of tlie noso wliere "The Silent "Watcheiv' the highest
spirit, has its seat.
These currents do not nsnally take one of the two patlis
indicated in the diagram to the entire e.xchision of the
other, hut generally one path is traveled hy the greater
volume of the sex-currents, according to the temperament
of the aspirant. In one wlio is seeking enlightenment
along purely intellectual lines the current travels particu-
larly over the s})inal cord and only a small part goes over
the path through the heart. In the mystic who feels
rather than knows, the currents find their way upwards
through the heart.
Both are developing ahnormally, and each must some-
time take up the development he has neglected, so as to
become fully rounded. Therefore the Eosicrucians aim
to give a teaching that will satisfy both classes, although
their main efforts are expended in reaching the intellec-
tually minded, for their need is the greatest.
This current of itself, however, even though it assumes
the proportions of a Niagara and flows until the crack of
doom, will be useless. But still, as it is not only a neces-
sary accompaniment, but a pre-requisite to self-conscious
work in the inner World, it must be cultivated to some
extent before the real esoteric training can begin. It will
thus be seen that a moral life devoted to spiritual thought
must be lived by the aspirant for a certain length of time
before it is possible to commence the work that will give
him first-hand knowledge of the super-physical realms and
enable him to become, in the truest ?onse, a helper of
humanity.
When the candidate has lived such a life for a time suf-
ficient to establish the current of spiritual force, and is
found worthy and qualified to receive esoteric instruction,
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 479
he is taught certain exercises, to set the pituitary body in
vibration. This vibration causes the pituitary body to im-
pinge upon and slightly deflect the nearest line of force
(See diagram 17). This, in turn, impinges upon the line
next to it, and so the process continues until the force of
the vibration has been spent. It is similar to the way in
which the striking of one note on a piano will produce a
number of overtones, by setting up a vibration in the
other strings which are at proper intervals of pitch.
When by the increased vibration of the pituitary body,
the lines of force have been deflected sufficiently to reach
the pineal gland, the object has been accomplished, the gap
between these two organs has been bridged. This is the
bridge between the World of Sense and the World of De-
sire. From the time it is built, man becomes clairvoyant
and able to direct his gaze where he will. Solid objects
are seen both inside and out. To him space and solidity,
as hindrances to ob.servation. have ceased to exist.
He is not yet a trained clairvoyant, but he is a clairvoy-
ant at will, a voluntary clairvoyant. His is a very differ-
ent faculty from that possessed by the medium, who is
usually an involuntary clairvoyant and can see only what
comes ; 01' who has, at best, very little more than the purely
negative faculty. Hut the person in whom this bridge is
once built is always in sure touch with the inner Worlds,
the connection being made and broken at his will. By de-
grees, the observer learns to control the vibration of the
pituitary body in a manner enabling him to get in touch
with any of the regions of the inner Worlds which he de
sires to visit. The faculty is completely under the control
of his will. It is not necessary for him to go into a trance
or do anything abnormal, to raise his consciousness to the
Desire Woild. Tie simply wills to see, and sees.
480 EOSICKUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
As was explained in the earlier part of this work, the
neophyte niiist loarn to see in the Desire AVorld. or rather,
he must learn how to understand what "he sees there. In
the Physical "World ohjects are dense, solid, and do not
change in the twinkling of an eve. In the Desire "World
they change in the most erratic manner. This is a source
of endless confusion to the negative involuntary clairvoy-
ant, and even to the neophyte who enters under the guid-
ance of a teacher, hut the teaching soon hrings the pupil
to a point where the Form may change as often as it will ;
he can perceive the Life that causes the change, and knows
it for what it is, despite all possible and puzzling changes.
There is also another and most important distinction to
be made. The power which enables one to perceive the
objects in a world is not identical with the power of enter-
ing that world and functioning there. The voluntary clair-
voyant, though he may have received some training, and is
able to distinguish the true from the false in the Desire
"V\^orld, is in practically the same relation to it as a prisoner
behind a barred window is to the outside world — he can
see it, but cannot function therein. Therefore esoteric
training not only opens up the inner vision of the aspirant,
but at the jjroper time further exercises are given to fur-
nish him with a vehicle in which he can function in the
inner Worlds in a perfectly self-conscious manner.
How THE Inner Vehicle Is Built.
In ordinary life most people live to eat, they drink,
gratify the sex-passion in an unrestrained manner, and lose
their tempers on the slightest provocation. Though out-
wardly these people may be very "respectable," they are,
nearly every day of their lives, causing almost utter con-
fusion in their organization. The entire period of sleep
ACQUIEING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 481
is spent by the dopire and the vital bodies in repairing the
damage done in the day time, leaving no time for outside
work of any kind. But as the individual begins to feel
the needs of the higher life, control sex-force, and temper,
and cultivate a serene disposition, there is less disturbance
caused in the vehicles during waking hours; consequently
less time is required to repair tlic damage during sleep.
Thus it becomes possible to leave the dense body for long
periods during sleeping hours, and function in the inner
Worlds in the higher vehicles. As the desire body and
the mind are not yet organized, they are of no use as sep-
arate vehicles of consciousness. Neither can the vital body
leave the dense body, as that would cause death, so it is
evident that measures must be taken to provide an or-
ganized vehicle which is fluidic and so constinicted that it
will meet the needs of the Ego in the inner Worlds as does
the dense body in the Physical World.
Tlie vital body is such an organized vehicle, and if some
means could be found to loosen it from the dense bi»dy
without causing death, the problem woukl be solved. Be-
sides, the vital body is tlie scat of memory, witliout which
it would be impossible to bring back into our piiysical con-
sciousness the remembrance of super-physical experiences
and thus obtain the full benefit of them.
We remember that the Hicrophants of the old Mystery
Temples segregated some of the people into castes and
tribes such as the Brahmins and the Levitcs, for the pur-
pose of providing bodies for the use of such Egos as were
advanced enough to be ready for Initiation. This was done
in such a manner that the vital body became separable
into two parts, as were the desire bodies of all humanity
at the beginning of the Earth Period. When the Hiero-
phant took the pupils out of their bodies he left one part
16
482 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
of the vital body, comiirising the first and second etliers, to
perform the purely animal functions (they are the only
ones active during sleep), tlie pupil taking witli him a
vehicle capable of perception, because of its connection
■with the sense-centers of the dense body; and also capable
of memory. It possessed these capabilities because it was
c-omposed of the third and fourth ethers, which are the
mediums of sense-perception and memory.
This is, in fact, that part of tlie vital body which the
aspirant retains from life to life, and immortalizes as the
Intellectual Soul.
Since Christ came and "took away tlie sin of the world,"
(not of the individual) purifying the desire body of our
planet, the connection between all human dense and vital
bodies has been loosened to such an extent that, by train-
ing, they are capable of separation as above described.
Therefore Initiation is open to all.
The finer part of the desire body, which constitutes the
Emotional Soul, is capable of separation in most people
(in fact, it possessed that capability even before Christ
came) and thus Avhen, by concentration and the use of the
proper formula, the finer parts of the vehicles have been
segregated for use during sleep, or at any other time, the
lower parts of the desire and vital bodies are still left to
carry on the processes of restoration in the dense vehicle^
the mere animal part.
That part of the vital body which goes out is highly or-
ganized, as we have seen. It is an exact counterpart of the
dense body. The desire body and the mind, not being or-
ganized, are of use only because they are connected with
the highly organized dense body. When separated from
it they are but poor instruments, therefore before man
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 433
can vvitlulraw from the dense body, the sense-centers of the
desire Ijody must he awakened.
In ordinary life the Ego is inside its bodies and its force
is directed outward. All man's will and energy are bent
upon the task of subduing the outside world. At no time
is he able to get aM'ay from the impressions of his outside
environment and thus be free to work on himself in his
waking liours. During sleep, when such an opportunity
is afforded, because of the dense bo<ly having lost con-
sciousness of the world, the Ego is oui.'iide liis bodies. If
man is to work on his vehicles at all, it must be when the
outside world is shut out as in sleep, but yet the spirit still
remains within and in full control of the faculties, as it is
in the waking state. Xot until such a state can be attained
will it be possible for the spirit to work inwardly and prop-
erly sensitize its vehicles.
Concentration is such a state. When in it, the senses
are stilled and a person is outwardly in the same condition
as in the deepest slcc]), yet the spirit remains within and
fully conscious. ^lost people have experienced this state,
at least in some degree, when they have become interested
to absorption in a book. At such times they live in the
scenes depicted by the author and are lost to their environ-
ment. When spoken to, they are oblivious to the sound,
so to all else transpiring around them, yet they are fully
awake to all tliey are reading, to the invisible world created
by the autlior, living there and feeling the heart-beats nf
all the different characters in the story. They are not
independent, but are bound in the life whicii some one has
created for them in the book.
The aspirant to the higher life cultivates the faculty of
becoming absorbed at will in any subject be chooses, or
rather not a sul)joct usually, but a very simple object, which
484 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CO^X'EPTION
he imagines. Thus wlien the proper condition or point of
absorption has been reached where his senses are absolutely
still, he concentrates his thought \ipon the different sense-
centers of the desire body and they start to revolve.
At first their motion is slow and hard to bring about,
but by degrees the sense-centers of the desire body will
make places for themselves within the dense and vital
bodies, which learn to accommodate themselves to this new
activity. Then some day, when the proper life has
developed the requisite cleavage between the higher and
lower parts of the vital body, there is a supreme effort of
the will ; a spiral motion in many directions takes place,
and. the aspirant stands outside his dense body. He looks
at it as at another person. The door of his prison-house
has been opened. He is free to come and go, as much at
liberty in the inner worlds as in the Physical "World, func-
tioning at will, in the inner or outer World, a helper of
all desiring his services in any of them.
Before the aspirant learns to voluntarily leave the body,
he may have worked in the desire body during sleep, for
in some people the desire body becomes organized before
the separation can be brought about in the vital body. Un-
der those conditions it is impossible to bring back these
subjective experiences to waking consciousness, but gen-
erally in such cases it will be noticed, as the first sign of
development, that all confused dreams will cease. Then,
after a while, the dreams will become more vivid and per-
fectly logical. The aspirant will dream of being in places
and with people (whether known to him in waking hours
or not matters little), conducting himself in as reasonable
a way as if he were in the waking state. If the place of
whicli he dreams is accessible to him in waking hours, he
may sometimes get proof of tiie reality of his dream if he
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 485
will note some physical detail of the scene and verify his
nocturnal impression next day.
He will next find that he can, during sleeping hours,
visit any place he desires upon tiie face of the Earth and
investigate it a great deal more thoroughly than if he had
gone there in the dense body, because in his desire body
he has access to all places, regardless of locks and bars.
If he persists, there will at last come a day when he need
not wait for sleep to dissolve the connection between his
vehicles, but can consciously set himself free.
Specific directions for freeing the higher vehicles can-
not be given indiscriminately. The separation is brought
about, not by a set formula of words, but rather by an act
of will, yet the manner in which the will is directed is in-
dividual, and can therefore be given only by a competent
teacher. Like all other real esoteric information, it is
never sold, but comes only as a result of the pupil qualify-
ing himself to receive it. All that can be done here is to
give an indication of the first steps which lead up to tlie
acquirement of tiie faculty of voluntary clairvoyance.
The most favorable time to exercise is on first awaken-
ing in the morning, before any of the worries and cares of
daily life have entered the mind. At that time one is fresh
from the inner Worlds and therefore more easily brouglit
back into touch with them than at any otlier time of the
day. Do not wait to dress, or sit up in bed, but relax the
body perfectly and let the exercises be the first waking
thought. Relaxation does not mean simply a comfortable
position; it is possible to have every muscle tense with ex-
pectation and that of itself frustrates the object, for in that
condition the desire body is gripping the muscles. It can-
not do otherwise till we calm the mind.
486 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Concentration.
Tlie first thing to practice is fixing one's thoughts upon
some ideal and holding them there without letting them
swerve. It is an exceedingly hard task, but, to some extent
at least, it must be accomplished before it is possible to
make any further progress. Thought is tlie power we use
in making images, pictures, thought-forms, according to
ideas from witliin. It is our principal power, and we must
learn to have absolute .control of it, so that what we pro-
duce is not wild illusion induced by outside conditions, but
true imagination generated by the spirit from within (see
diagram 1).
Sceptics will say that it is aJl imagination but, as said
before, if the inventor had not been able to imagine the
telephone, etc., we would not today possess those things.
His imaginings were not generally correct or true at first,
otherwise the inventions would have worked successfully
from the beginning, without the many failures and ap-
parently useless experiments that have nearly alwa3's pre-
ceded the production of the practical and serviceable in-
strument or machine. Neither is the imagination of the
budding occult scientist correct at first. The only way to
make it true is by uninterrupted practice, day after day,
exercising the will to keep the thought focussed upon one
subject, object, or idea, exclusive of all else. Thought is a
great power which we have been accustomed to waste. It
lias been allowed to flow on aimlessly, as water flows over a
precipice before it is made to turn the wheel.
The rays of the Sun, diffused over the entire surface of
the Earth, produce only a moderate warmth, but if even a
few of them are concentrated by means of a glass, they are
capable of producing fire at the focusing-point.
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 43?
rhought-force is the most powerful means of obtaining
knowledge. If it is concentrated upon a subject, it will
burn its way tlirough any obstacle and solve tlie problem.
If the requisite amount of thouglit-force is brought to bear,
there is nothing that is beyond the power of human com-
prehension. ISo long as we scatter it, thought-force is of
little use to us, but as soon as we are prepared to take the
trouble necessary to harness it, all knowledge is ours.
We often hear people exclaim petulantly, "Oh, I cannot
think of a hundred things at once !" when really that is
exactly what they have been doing, -and what has caused
the very trouble of which they complain. People are con-
stantly thinking of a hundred things other than the one
they have in hand. Every success has been accomplished
by persistent concentration ujxm the desired end.
This is something the aspirant to the higher life must
positively learn to do. There is no other way. At first he
will find himself thinking of everything imder the sun in-
stead of the ideal upon which he has decided to concen-
tiat(\ but he must not let that discourage him. In time
lie will find it easier to still his senses and hold his
thoughts steady. Persistence, prrslsfmcr, and always
PEKSISTEXCE will win at last. Without that, how-
ever, no results can be expected. It is of no use to perform
the exercises for two or three mornings or weeks and then
neglect them for as long. To be effective they must be
done faitiifully every morning without fail.
Any sul)ject may be selected, according to the tempera-
ment and mental persuasion of the aspirant, so long as
it is pure and mentally uplifting in its tendency. Christ
will do for some: others, who Igve flowers particularly, are
most easily helped by taking one as the subject of concen-
tration. The object matters little, but whatever it is we
488 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
must imagine it true to life in all details. If it is Christ,
we must imagine a real Christ, with mobile features, life
in His eyes, and an expresson tliat is not stony and dead.
We must build a living ideal, not a statue. If it is a
flower, we must, in imagination, take the seed and having
buried it in the ground, fix our mind upon it steadily.
Presently we shall see it burst, shooting forth its roots,
which penetrate the Eartli in a spiral manner. From the
main branches of the roots we watch the myriads of minute
rootlets, as they branch out and ramify in all directions.
Then the stem begins to shoot upward, bursting through
the surface of the earth and coming forth as a tiny green
stalk. It grows; presently there is an off-set; a tiny twig
shoots out from the main stem. It grows; another off-set
and a branch appears; from the branches, little stalks
with buds at the end shoot out ; presently there are a num-
ber of leaves. Then comes a bud at the top ; it grows
larger until it begins to burst and the red leaves of the
rose show beneath the green. It unfolds in the air, emit-
ting an exquisite perfume, which we sense perfectly as it
is wafted to us on the balmy summer breeze which gently
Rawys tlie beautiful creation before the mind's eye.
Only when we "imagine" in such clear and complete out-
lines as tliese, do we enter into tlio spirit of concentration.
There must be no shadowy, faint resemblance.
Those who have traveled in India have told of fakirs
showing them a seed, wliieh was ])lantcd and grew before
the eyes of the astonished Avitness, bearing fruit whicli the
traveler tasted. That was done by concentration so intense
that the ])icturc was visible, not only to the fakir himself,
but also to the spectators., A case is recorded where the
members of a committee of scientists all saw the wonderful
things done before their eyes, under conditions where
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 489
sleight-of-hand was impossible, yet the photographs which
they obtained while the experiment was in progress, came
to naught. There was no impression on the sensitive
plates, because there had been no material, concrete objects.
At first the pictures which the aspirant builds will be
but shadowy and poor likenesses, but in the end he can,
by concentration, conjure up an image more real and alive
than things in the Physical World.
TVlien the aspirant has become able to form such pictures*
and has succeeded in holding his mind upon the picture
thus created, he may try to drop the picture suddenly and,
holding his mind steady without any thought, wait to see
what comes into the vacuum.
For a long time nothing may appear and the aspirant
must carefully guard against making visions for himself,
but if he keeps on faithfully and patiently every morning,
there will come a time when, the moment he lias let the
imaged picture drop, in a flash tlie surrounding Desire
World will open up to his inner eye. At first it may be
but a mere glimpse, but it is an earnest of what will later
come at will.
Meditation.
When the aspirant has practiced concentration for some
time, focussing the mind upon some simple object, build-
ing a living thought-form by means of the imaginative
faculty, he will, hy means of Meditation, learn all about
the object thus created.
Su]iposing that the aspirant has, by concentration,
called up the image of the Christ. It is very easy to
meditatively recall the incidents of His life, suffering
and resurrection, Init much beyond that can l)o learned
by meditation. Knowledge never before dreamed of will
490 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
flood the soul witli a glorious light. Yet something that
is uninteresting and does not of itself suggest anything
marvelous, is better for practice. Try to find out all
about — say, a match^ or a common table.
When the image of the table has been clearly formed
in the mind, think what kind of wood it is and whence
it came. Go back to the time when, as a tiny seed, the
tree from w^hich the wood was cut first fell into the forest
soil. Watch it grow from year to year, covered by the
snows of winter and warmed by the summer Sun, steadily
growing upward — its roots meanwhile constantly spread-
ing under the ground. First it is a tender sapling, sway-
ing in the breeze; then, as a young tree, it gradually
stretches higher and higher toward the air and the sun-
shine. As the years pass, its girth becomes greater and
greater, until at last one day the logger comes, with his
axe and saw gleaming as they reflect the rays of the winter
Sun. Our tree is felled and shorn of its branches, leav-
ing but the tnmk ; tliat is cut into logs, which are hauled
over the frozen roads to the river-bank, there to await the
springtime when the melting snow swells the streams,
A great raft of the logs is made, the pieces of our tree
being among them. We know every little peculiarity
about them and would recognize them instantly among
thousands, so clearly have we marked them in our mind.
We follow the raft down the stream, noting the passing
landsca]5e and becoming 'familiar with the men who have
the care of the raft and wlio slcej) u]inn little huts built
Tipon their floating charge. At last we see it arrive at
a sawmill and disbanded. One by one the logs are grasped
by prongs on an endless chain and hauled out of the water.
Here comes one of our logs, the widest ]iart of which will
be made into the top of our table. It is hauled out of
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 49I
the water to the log-deck and rolled about by men with
peavies. We hear the hungiT whine of the great circular
saws as they revolve so last that they appear as mere blurs
l)efore our eyes. Our log is placed upon a carriage which
is propelled toward one of them, and in a moment those
teeth of steel are tearing their way through its body and
dividing it into boards and planks. Some of the wood
is selected to form part of a building, but the best of it
is taken to a furniture factor}- and ])ut into a kiln, where
it is dried by steam so that it will not shrink after it has
been made into furniture. Then it is taken out and put
through a great planing machine with many sharp knives,
which makes it smooth. Xext it is sawn off into different
lengths and glued together to form table-tops. The legs
are turned from thicker pieces and set into the frame
which supports the top ; then the whole article is smoothed
again with sandpaper, varnished and polished, thus com-
pleting the tal)le in every respect. It is next sent out,
with other furniture, to the store where we bought it,
and we follow it as it is carted from that jilaee to our
home and left in our dining-room.
Thus, by meditation, we have become conversant with
the various branches of industry necessary to convert a
forest tree into a piece of furniture. We have seen all
the machines and the men, and noted the jx-culiaritios of
the various places. We have even followed the life process
whereby that tree has grown from a tiny seed, and have
learned that back of seemingly very commonplace things
there is a great and absorbingly interesting history. A
pin; the match with which we light the gas; the gas
itself; and the room in which that gas is burned — all
have interesting histories, well worth learning.
492 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Observationt.
One of the most important aids to the arpirant in his
efforts is observation. Most people go through life blind-
folded. Of them it is literally true that they "have eyes,
and see not ; . . . have ears, and hear not." Upon the
part of the majority of humanity there is a deplorable
lack of observation.
Most people are, to some extent, excusable for this, be-
cause their sight is not normal. Urban life has caused
untold damage to the eyes. In the country the child
learns to use the muscles of the eye to the full extent,
relaxing or contracting them as required to see objects
at considerable distances in the oj^en, or close at hand
in and about the house. But the city-bred child sees
practically everything close at hand and the muscles of its
eyes are seldom nsed to observe objects at any great
distance, therefore that faculty is to a great extent lost,
resulting in a prevalence of near-sightedness and other
eye troubles.
It is very important to one aspiring to the higher life
that he be able to see all things about him in clear,
definite outlines, and in full detail. To one suffering
from defective sight, the use of glasses is like opening up
a new world. Instead of the former mistiness, everything
is seen clearly and definitely. If the condition of the
sight requires the use of two foci, one should not be con-
tent with having two pairs of glasses, one for near and'
one for far seeing, thus necessitating frequent changes.
Not only are the changes wearisome, but one is very apt
to forget one pair when leaving home. The two foci can
be had in one pair of bi-focal glasses, and such should be
worn, to facilitate observation of the minutest details.
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAaD KNOWLEDGE 493
DiSCRIMIXATION.
When the aspirant lias attended to his eyesifrlit, ho
shouhl systematically observe everything and everybody,
drawing conclusions from actions, to cultivate the faculty
of logical reasoning. Logic is the best teacher in the
Physical World, as well as the safest and surest guide in
any world.
While practicing this method of observation, it should
always be kept in mind that it must be used only to
gather facts and not for purposes of criticism, at least
not wanton criticism. Constructive criticism, which
points out defects and the means of remedying them, is
the basis of progress; but destructive criticism, which
vandalisticaly demolishes good and bad alike without aim-
ing at any higher attainment, is an ulcer on the character
and must Ix- eradicated. Gossip and idle tale-ljearing are
clogs and hindrances. While it is not required that we
shall say that black is white and overlook manifestly wrong
conduct, criticism should be made for the purpose of help-
ing, not to wantonly besmirch the character of a fellow-
being because we have found a little stain. Remembering
the parable ot the mote and the l)eam, we should turn our
most unsparing criticism toward ourselves. None is so
perfect that there is no room for improvement. The more
blameless the man, the less prone he is to find fault and
cast the first stone at another. If we point out faults
and suggest ways for improvement, it must be done with-
out personal feeling. We must always seek the good
which is hidden in evervthing. The cultivation of this
attitude of discrimination is particularly important.
When the aspirant to first-hand knowledge has practiced
concentration and meditation exercises for some time, and
494 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
has become fairly prolicieiit in them, there is a still higher
step to be taken.
We have seen that concentration is focusing thought
upon a single object. It is the means whereby we l)inld
a clear, objective, and living image of the form a]x)ut
which we wish to acquire knowledge.
Meditation is the exercise whereby the history of the
object of our investigation is traced and, so to say, entered
into, to pick out of it every shred of evidence as to its
relation to the world in general.
These two mental exercises deal, in the deepest and most
thorough manner imaginable, with things. They lead
up to a higher, deeper and more subtle stage of mental
development, which deals with the very soul of things.
The name of that stage is Contemplation.
C0XTE]\rPLATI0X.
In contemplation there is no reaching out in thought
or imagination for the sake of getting information, as
was the case in Meditation, It is simply the holding of
the object before our mental vision and letting the soul
of it speak to us. We repose quietly and relaxed upon
a couch or bed — not negatively, Ijut thoroughly on the
alert — watching for the information that will surely come
if we have reached the proper development. Then the
Form of the object seems to vanish and we see only the
Life at work. Contemplation will teach us about the
Life-side, as Meditation taught us about the Form-side.
Wlien we reach this stage and have before us, say, a
tree in the forest, we lose sight of the Form entirely, and
see only the Life, which in this case is a group spirit.
We shall find, to our astonishment, that the group spirit
of the tree includes the various insects which feed upon it;
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 495
that the parasite and its host are emanations from one
and the same group spirit, for the liigher we ascend in
the invisible reahus, tlie fewer the separate and distinct
forms, and the more completely the One Life predomi-
nates, impressing upon the investigator the supreme fact
that there is but the One Life — the Universal Life of
God, in Whom it is an actual fact that "we live, and
move, and have our being.*' IMineral, plant, animal, and
man — all, without exception — are manifestations of God,
and this fact furnishes the true basis of brotherhood — a
brotherhood which includes everything from the atom to
the Sun, I)ecause all are emanations from God. Concep-
tions of brotherhood based upon any other foundation,
such as class-distinctions, Eace-afhnity. similarity of occu-
pation, etc., fall far short of this true basis, as the occult
scientist clearly realizes when he sees the Universal Life
flowing in all that exists.
Adoration.
When this height has l^een reached by Contemplation,
and the aspirant has realized that lie is in truth beholding
God in the Life that peruu^atcs all things, there remains
still to be taken the highest step, Adoration, whereby he
unites himself with the Source of all things, reaching by
that act the highest goal possible of attainment by nuin
until the time when the porinanont uuinn takes place at
the end of the gri'at Day of ^lanifostation.
It is the writer's opinion that neither the heights of
Conteiujilation, nor the final step of Adoration can be
attained without the aid of a teacher. The as])irant need
never fear, however, that for want of a leadier he will
Ix" delayed in taking these steps; nor need he he concerned
about looking for a teacher. All that is necessary for him
49G ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
to do is to start to improve himself, and to earnestly and
persistently continue therein. In that way he will purify
his v'ehicles. They will commence to shine in the inner
Worlds, and cannot fail to attract the attention of the
teachers, who are always watching for just such cases and
are more than eager and glad to help those who, because
of their earnest efforts to purify themselves, have won the
right to receive help. Humanity is sorely in need of
helpers who are able to work from the inner Worlds,
therefore "seek and ye shall find," but let us not imagine
that by going about from one professed teacher to an-
other, we are seeking. "Seeking," in that sense of the
word, will avail nothing in tliis dark world. We our-
selves must kindle the light — the light which invariably
radiates from the vehicles of the earnest aspirant. That
is the star which will lead us to the teacher, or rather the
teacher to us.
The time required to bring results from the perform-
ance of the exercises varies with each individual and is
dependent upon his application, his stage in evolution and
his record in ^the book of destiny ; therefore no general
time can be set. Some, who are almost ready, obtain re-
sults in a few days or weeks; others have to work months,
years, and even their whole life without visible results,
yet the results will be there, and the aspirant who faith-
fully persists will some day, in this or a future life, be-
hold his patience and faithfulness rewarded and the inner
Worlds open to his gaze, finding himself a citizen of
realms where the opportunities are immeasurably greater
than in the Physical World only.
From that time — awake or asleep, through what men
call life, and through what men call death — his conscious-
ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE 497
Dess will be unbrokeu. He will lead a consciously-con-
tinuous existence, having the benefit of all the conditions
which make for more rapid advancement to ever-higher
positions of trust, to be used in the uplifting of the race.
CHAPTER XVI II.
TllK COXSTITITIOX OF TIIK EaHTH : AND VOLCAXIC
Eruptions.
E\'EX among occult scientists it is counted ainong
the most difficult problems to investigate the mys-
terious construction of the Earth. Every, occult
scientist knows how much easier it is to thoroughly and
accurately investigate the Desire World and the Region
of Concrete Thought and bring back the results into the
Physical World than to investigate completely the secrets
of our physical planet, because to do that fully, one must
have passed through the nine lesser Mysteries and the first
of the Great Initiations.
Modern scientists know very little about this matter.
So far as seismic phenomena are concerned, they very
frequently change their theories, because they are constant-
ly discovering reasons why their previous hypotheses were
untenable. They have, with all their usual splendid care,
investigated the very outside shell, but only to an insignifi-
cant depth. As for volcanic eruptions, they try to under-
stand them as they try to understand everything else, in
a purely mechanical way, depicting the center of the Earth
as a fiery furnace and concluding that the eruptions are
caused by the accidental admission of water and in other
similar ways.
In a certain sense, their theories have some foundation,
but in this case they are, as always, neglecting the spiritual
498
CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH 499
causes which to tlie occultist appear to be the true ones.
To him, the world is far from l^eing "dead." On the
contrary, its every nook and crevice is permeated by sj)irit,
which is the leaven that causes changes in and upon the
planet.
The different kinds of quartz, the metals, the disposition
of the various strata — all have a much liigher significance
than the materialistic investigator has ever been able to
grasp. To the occult scientist, the way in which these
materials are arranged is full of meaning. On this sub-
ject, as on every other, occult science stands in the same
relation to modern science as physiology does to anatomy.
Anatomy states with minute detail the exact position of
every bone, muscle, ligament, nerve, etc., their relative
positions to one anotlier and so forth, but does not give
any clue to the use of any one of the different parts of
wliich the l)0(ly is composed. Physiology, on the other
hand, not only states the ))osition and structure of every
part of the body, but alx) tells their use in the body.
To know the dill'erent strata of the Eartii and the rela-
tive positions of the planets in the sky without having
also a knowledge of their use and meaning in the life and
purpose of the Cosmos, is as useless as to know jnerely
the positions of ])ones, nerves, etc., without understanding
also their use in the functional economy of the body.
TlIK XUMRER OK Till: BkAST.
To the trained chiirvoyiint sight, of the Initiate of the
various degrees of tiie ^lysteries, the Earth ap]>ears built
in strata, something like an onion, one layer or stratum
outside another. Then' are nine such strata and the cen-
tral core, making ten in all. Those strata are revealed
to the Initiate gradually. One stratum becomes accessi-
500 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
ble to him at each Initiation, so that at the end of the
nine lesser Initiations he is master of all the layers, but
has not yet access to the secrets of the core.
In ancient parlance these nine steps are called the
'lesser Mysteries." They take the neophyte consciously
through all that relates to his past evolution, through the
activities of involuntary existence, so that he is able to
understand the manner and meaning of the work he then
performed unconsciously. He is shown how the present
ninefold constitution (the threefold body, the threefold
soul, and the threefold spirit) was brought into existence;
how the great creative Hierarchies worked on the virgin
spirit, awakening in it the Ego, helping it to form the
body; and also the work he himself has done, to extract
from the threefold body as much of the threefold soul
as he now possesses. One step at a time is he led through
the nine steps of the lesser mysteries, the nine strata.
This number nine is the root-number of our present
stage of evolution. It bears a significance in our system
that no other number does. It is the number of Adam,
the life which commenced its evolution as Man, which
reached the human stage during the Earth Period. In
the Hebrew, as in the Greek, there are no numerals, but
each letter has a numerical value. In Hebrew "Adam''
is called "ADM." The value of "A" is 1; of "D," 4;
and of "M," 40. If we add these figures, we get
1+4+4+0=9 — the number of Adam, or humanity.
If we turn from the Book of Genesis, which deals with
the creation of man in the hoary past, to the Book of
Eevelation, which deals with his future attainment, we
find that the number of the beast which hinders is 666.
Adding these figures, 6+6+6=18; and further, 1+8=9
— we have again the number of humanity, which is itself
CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH 50 1
the cause of all the evil which hinders its own progress.
Going further, to the point where the nuniher of tliose
who are to be saved is stated, we find it to be 14-1,000.
Adding as before, 1+4+4+000=9 — again the number of
humanity, showing tliat practically it will be saved in
its totality, the number inca])able of progress in our
present evolution being negligible in comparison to the
grand total, and even the few who fail are not lost, but
will progress in a later scheme.
The consciousness of the mineral and the plant is really
unconsciousness. The first glimmering dawn of con-
sciousness begins with the animal kingdom. We have
seen also that according to the most modern classification,
there are thirteen steps in the animal kingdom : tiiree
classes of Radiates; three classes of Mollusks; three classes
of Articulates; and four classes of Vertebrates.
If we regard ordinary man as a step by himself, and
remember that there are thirteen Initiations from man
to God^ or from the time he commenced to qualify him-
self for becoming a self-conscious Creative Intelligence,
we have again the same numlx?r, Nine — 13+1+13=27;
2+7=9.
The number 9 is also hidden in the age of Christ
Jesusj 33 ; 3x3=9, and in a similar manner in the 33
degrees of Masonry. In olden times ^lasonry was a
system of Initiation into the lesser Mysteries which, as
we have seen, have 9 degrees, but the Initiates often wrote
it as 33. Similarly we read of the 18th degree of the
Rosicrucians, which was only a "blind" for the uniniti-
ated, because there are never more than 9 degrees in any
lesser ^lystery, and tlie ^fasons of t^day have but very
little of the occult ritual Irl't in llicir degrees.
We have also tlie nino months of gestation, during
502 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
which the body is built u}) to its present efficiency; and
there are in the body nine j^erforations — two eyes, two
nostrils, two ears, one mouth, and the two lower orifices.
When the advancing man has passed through the nine
lesser Initiations, gaining thereby entrance to all tlio
layers of the Earthy entrance into the core is yet to l)e
W'on. That is opened to him l)y the first of the four Great
Initiations, in which he learns to know the mystery of
the mind, that part of his being begun on Earth. When
he is ready for tlie first Great Initiation he has developed
his mind to the degree all men are destined to attain to
at the end of the Earth Period. In that Initiation he is
given the key to the next stage, and all work done by liim
after that will be such as humanity in general will do in
the Jupiter Period, and does not concern us at present.
After his first Great Initiation, he is an Adept. The
second, third and fourth Initiations pertain to the stages
of development to be arrived at by ordinary humanity
in the Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan Periods.
These thirteen Initiations are symbolically represented
in the Christ and His twelve Apostles. Judas Iscariot is
the traitorous propensities of the lower nature of the
neophyte. The beloved John is the Venus Initiation, and
Christ Himself symbolizes the Divine Initiate of the
Vidcan Period.
In different schools of occult science the rites of Ini-
tiation vary, also their statement of the number of Initia-
tions, but that is merely a matter of classification. It will
be observed that such vague descriptions as can be given
Ijecome more vague as one proceeds higher and higher.
Where seven or more degrees are spoken of, almost nothing
is said of the sixth Initiation, and nothing whatever of
the ones beyond. That is because of another division —
CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH 503
the six steps of ''Preparation/' and the four Initiations
which bring the candidate to tlie end of tlie Earth Period,
to Adeptship. Then there must always be three more,
if the philosophy of the school or society goes so far. The
writer, however, knows of none but the Rosicrucians who
have anything to say of the three Periods which preceded
the Earth Period, save the bare statement that there were
such Periods, They are not brought very definitely into
relationship with our ])resent ])hase of existence, liow-
ever. Likewise, other occult teachings simply state that
there will l^e three more schemes of evolution, but no
particulars are given. Of course, under those circum-
stances, the three last Initiations are not mentioned.
Diagram 18 will give an idea of the arrangement of the
Earth's strata, the central core being omitted to indicate
more clearly the lemniscate formation of the currents in
the ninth stratum. In the diagram the strata are repre-
sented as Ix-'ing of equal thickness, though in reality some
are much thinner than others. Beginning at the outside,
they appear in the following order :
(1) The ^lineral Earth: This is the stony crust of
the Earth, with which CJeology deals as far as it is able
to penetrate.
(2) The Fluid Stratum: The matter of this stratum
is more fluid than that of the outride crust, yet it is not
watery, but rather more like a thick paste. It has tiie
quality of expansion, like that of an exceedingly explosive
g^s, and is kept in place only by the enormous pressure
of the outer crust. Were that removed, the whole of the
fluid stratum would disappear in space with a tremendous
explosion. These corresjiond to the Chemical and b'theric
Regions of the Physical World.
(3) Vapor Stratum: In (he first and second strata
504 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
there is really no conscious life. But in tliis stratum
there is an ever-flowing and pulsating life, as in the
Desire World surrounding and inter-penetrating our
Earth.
(4) Water Stratum: In this stratum are the germinal
possibilities of all that exists upon the surface of the
Earth. Here are the archetypal forces which are back
of the group spirits; also the archetypal forces of the
minerals, for this is the direct physical expression of the
Eegion of Concrete Thought.
(5) Seed Stratum: Material scientists have been
baffled in their efforts to discover the origin of life, how
the first living things came forth from previously dead
matter.
In reality, according to the occult explanation of evo-
lution, the question should be how the "dead"' things
originated. The Life w<is there previous to the dead
Forms. It built its bodies from the attenuated, vaporous
substance long before it condensed into the Earth's solid
crust. Only when the life had left the forms could they
crystallize and become hard and dead.
Coal is but crystallized plant bodies ; coral is also the
crystallization of animal forms. The life leaves the forms
and the forms die. Life never came into a form to awaken
it to life. Life departed from the forms and the forms
died. Thus did "dead" things come to be.
In this fifth stratum is the primordial fount of life
from which came the impetus that built all the forms on
Earth. It corresponds to the Eegion of Abstract Thought.
(6) Plery Stratum: Strange as it may seem, this
stratum is possessed of sensation. Pleasure and pain,
sympathy and antipathy have here their effect on the
Earth. It is generally supposed that under no possible
CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH 505
circumptances can tlie Earth have any pon^^atinn whatever.
The occult scientist, however, as he watches the harvesting
of the ripe grain and the gathering of fruit from the trees
in the autumn, or the phicking of flowers, knows the
pleasure experienced by the Earth itself. It is similar to
the pleasure felt by the cow when its bursting udders are
being relieved by the sucking calf. The Earth feels the
delight of having yielded nourishment for its progeny
of Forms, this delight reaching its culmination in the
harvest time.
On the other hand, when plants are torn out l)y the
roots, it is patent to the occult scientist that the Earth
senses a sting of pain. For that reason he does not eat
the plant-foods which grow under the Earth. In the first
place they are full of the Earth-force and deficient in
Sun-force, and are additionally poisoned by being pulled
up by the roots. The only exception to this rule is that
he may partake sparingly of the potato, which originally
grew on the surface of the earth, and has only in com-
paratively recent times grown beneath the soil. Occultists
endeavor to nourish their bodies on fniits Avhich grow
toward the Sun. because they contain more of tlie higher
Sun-force, and have not caused the Earth pain.
It might be su])p()sed tiiat mining operations would
be very painful to the ]']artli, Init the reverse is the case.
Every disintegration of the hard crust causes a st>nsation
of relief and every solidifieation is a source of pain.
Where a mountain torrent washes away the soil and carries
it toward the i)lains, the earth finals freer. Where the
disintegrated mattt-r is again deposited, as in a bar out-
side the mcnith of a great river, there is a corresponding
sense of uneasiness.
As sensation in animals anil men is due to their sepa-
506 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
rato vital bodies^ so the i'oelin<; of the Earth is particuUirly
active in this sixth stratum, which corresponds to the
Worhl of Life Spirit. To understand the pleasure felt
wlien mining oi)erations are disintegrating the hard rock,
and the pain when deposits gather, we must remember
that the Earth is the dense body of a Great Spirit, and
to furnisli us with an environment in which we could
live and gather exjjerience, it had to crystallize this body
into its present solid condition.
As evolution proceeds, however, and man learns the les-
sons pertaining to this aeme of concretion, then Earth
will become softer and its spirit more and more liberated.
This is what Paul meant when he spoke of the whole
creation groaning and travailing, waiting for the day of
liberation.
(7) Eefracting Stratum: This part of the Earth
corresponds to the World of Divine Spirit. There are,
in occult science what are known as "The Seven Un-
speakable Secrets.'' For those wh6 are not acquainted
with these secrets, or have not at least an inkling of their
import, the properties of this stratum must seem particu-
larly absurd and grotesque. In it all the forces which
are known to us as the "Laws of Xature" exist as moral,
or rather immoral forces. In the beginning of the con-
scious career of man they were much worse than at
present. But it appears that as humanity progresses in
morals, these forces improve correspondingly; also that
any lapse in morals has a tendency to unleash these
Nature-forces and causes them to create havoc upon the
Earth ; while the striving for higher ideals makes thera
less inimical to man.
The forces in this stratum are tlius, at any time, an
exact reflection of the existing moral status of mankind.
CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH 507
From the occult ])oint of view, the "liand of God" whicli
smites a Sodom or a Cioinorrah is not a foolisli super-
stition, for as surely as there is individual resj)onsil)ility to
till' law of Consequence which ])rinsrs to each jK'rson the
just results of his deeds whether for good or evil, so is
there also community and national responsibility, which
brings upon groups of men corres))onding results for their
collective acts. Xature-forces are the general agents of
such retributive justice, causing floods, or earthquakes,
or the beneficent formation of oil or coal for various
groups, according to their deserts.
(8) Atomistic Stratum: This is the name given by the
Eosicrucians to the eighth layer of the Earth, whieh is
the expression of the World of Virgin Sjurits. It seems
to have the property of multii)lying many fold the things
in it ; this applies, however^ only to those things which
have been definitely formed. An unshajien piece of wood,
or an unhewn stone has no existence there, but upon any-
thing which has been shaped, or has life and form (such
as a flower or a picture), this stratum has the effect of
multiplication to an astonishing degree.
(i)) Material Expression of the Earth-s])irit : There
are here lemniscate currents, which are intimately con-
nected with the brain, heart, and sex-organs of the human
race. It corresponds to the WOild of God.
(10) Center of Being of the Earth-spirit: Xothing
more can be said about this at present excejit that it is tl.e
ultimate seed-ground of all that is in and on Eartli, and
corresponds to the Absolute.
From the sixth or fiery stratum to the surface of tiie
Earth are a number of shafts in dilTerent places. The
outer ends of tliese are called ''volcanic craters." When
the Nature-forces in the seventh stratum are luileashed so
608 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
tliat tlioy can express themselves through a volcanic out-
buist, they set the (sixth) fiery stratum in motion and the
agitation spreads outward to the moutli of the crater. The
bulk of the nuiterial is taken from the substance of the
second stratum, for that is the denser counterpart of the
sixth stratum as the vital body, the second-veliicle of man,
is the denser counterpart of the life Spirit, the sixth prin-
ciple. This fluidic stratum, with its expansive and highly
explosive quality, insuring an unlimited supply of material
at the point of eruption. The contact with the outer
atmosphere hardens that part of it which is not blown
away into space, thus forming the lava and dust, until, as
the blood from a wound congeals and stanches the flow,
so the lava finally seals the aperture from the inner parts
of the Earth.
As might be gathered from the fact that it is the re-
flected immorality and anti-spiritual tendencies of man-
kind which, arouse the Nature-forces in the seventh
stratum to destructive activity, it is generally profligate
and degenerate peoples who succumb to these catastrophes.
They, together with others whose destiny, self-generated
under the law of Consequence, for various reasons, involves
a violent death, are gatliered from many lands by the
superhuman forces, to the point where the eruption is to
occur. To the thoughtful, the volcanic outbursts of Ve-
suvius, for instance, will afford corroboration of this state-
ment.
A list of these outbursts during the last 2,000 years
shows that their frequency has been increasing with the
growth of materialism. In the last sixty years, especially,
in the ratio that materialistic science has grown arrogant
in its absolute and sweeping denial of everything spiritual,
have the eruptions increased in frequency. While there
, Pitt^ram lb
CON?)TlTUTIOM OFTHL EARTH
510 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPT I OX
were Itut six eruptions in llie first l.UOU years after Christ,
the hist live have taken plaee within 51 years, as will be
shown.
The first eruption during the Christian Era was that
wiiich destroyed the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii,
in wliich the elder Pliny perished, A. D. 79. The other
eruptions followed in A. D. 203, 472, 512, 652, 982, 1036,
1158, 1500, 1631, 1737, 1794, 1822, 1855, 1872, 1885,
1891, 1906.
In the first thousand years, there were six eruptions; in
the second thousand there have been twelve, the last five
occurring in a period of 51 years, as before stated.
Of the entire number of 18 eruptions, the first nine oc-
curred in the so-called "dark ages," that is to say, the 1600
years during which the Western World was dominated liy
what are commonly termed the "lieathen," or by the
Roman Church. The remainder have taken place in the
last three hundred years, during which the advent and rise
of Modern Science, witli its materializing tendencies, has
driven almost the last vestige of spirituality to the wall,
particularly in the last half of the 19th Century. There-
fore the eruptions for that period comprise nearly one-
third of the total number that have taken place in our Era.
To counteract this demoralizing influence, a great deal
of occult information has been given out during that time
by the Elder Brothers of Wisdom, who are ever working
for the benefit of humanity, it is thought that by giving
out this knowledge and educating the few who will still
receive it, it may be possible to stem the tide of material-
ism, which otherwise may bring about very serious conse-
quences to its advocates who, having so long denied the
existence of the spiritual, may be unable to find their bal-
ance when they discover that, though still living, they have
CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH 511
been depidved of the dense body. Such persons may meet
a fate too sad to contemplate with ecjuanimity. One of tlie
causes of the dread "white })lague'' is this materialism,
not traceable to the present incarnation perhaps, l)ut the
result of previous materialistic beliefs and alfirmations.
We have spoken of the demise of the elder PJJny, at the
time of the destruction of Pompeii. It is interesting to
follow the fate of such a scientist, not so much for the
sake of that particular individual as for the light it throws
upon the manner in which the memory of Nature is read
by the occult scientist, how the impr>?ssions are made upon
it, and the effect of past traits upon present tendencies.
When a man dies, his dense body disintegrates, but the
sum total of its forces can be found in the seventh or re-
flecting stratum of the Earth, which may be said to con-
stitute a reservoir in which, as forces, ])ast forms are stored.
If, knowing the time of the death of a man, we search
this reservoir, it is possible to find his form there. Not
only is it stored in the seventh stratum, but the eighth or
atomistic stratum multiplies it, so that any one type may
be reproduced and modified by others. Thus it is used
over and over again in the formation of other bodies. The
brain-tendencies of such a man as Pliny the elder may
have been reproduced a thousand years alterwards, and
have been partly the cause of the present crop' of mate-
rialistic scientists.
TIkm'o is still much for modern, material scientists to
learn and to unlearn. Though they fight to tlie last ditch
what they snceringly term the "illusionary ideas" of the
occult scientist, they are being compelled to acknowledge
their truth and accept them ouv by one, and it is only a
matter of time when they will have been compelled to ac-
cept them all.
512 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
Mesnier, who was sent by the Elder Brothers, was worse
than ridiculed, but when materialists had changed tiie
name of the force discovered by him, calling it "hypno-
tism" instead of "mesmerism," it at once became "scien-
tific."
Twenty years ago Madame Blavatsky, a faithful pupil
of Eastern Masters, said that the Earth had a third move-
ment, in addition to the two producing day and night and
the seasons. She pointed out that the inclination of the
Earth's axis is caused by a movement which, in due time,
brings the north pole to where the equator is now and still
later, to the place now occupied b}' the south pole. This.
one said, was known to the ancient Egyptians, the famous
planisphere at Dendera showing that they had records of
three such revolutions. These statements, in common with
the whole of her unexcelled work, "The Secret Doctrine,"
w^ere hooted at.
A few years ago, an astronomer, Mr. G. E. Sutcliffe, of
Bombay, discovered and mathematically demonstrated that
Laplace had made a mistake in his calculations. The dis-
covery and rectification of this error confirmed by mathe-
matical demonstration the existence of the third motion of
the Earth, as claimed by Madame Blavatsky. It also af-
forded an explanation of the theretofore puzzling fact that
tropical plants and fossils are found in the polar regions,
as such a movement would necessarily produce, in due
time, tropical and glacial periods on all parts of the Earth,
corresponding to its changed position in relation to the
Sun. ^Fr. Sutcliffe sent his letter and demonstrations to
Nature, but that journal refused to publish them, and
when the author made ])ublic the discovery by means of a
pamphlet, he drew upon himself an appalling storm of
vituperation. However, he is an avowed and a deep stu-
CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH 513
dent of "The Secret Doctrine," and that explains the hos-
tile reception accorded his discovery and its inevitable
corollaries.
Later, however, a Frenchman, not an astronomer, but a
mechanician, constructed an apparatus demonstrating the
ample possibility of the existence of such a movement. Tiie
apparatus was exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Ex-
hibition at Saint Louis, and was warmly endorsed by M.
Camille Flammarion, as worthy of investigation. Here
was sometliing concrete, something "mechanical," and the
editor of 21ie Monist, though ho desci'iljcd the inventor as
a man laboring somewhat under "mystic illusions" (be-
cause of his belief that the ancient Egyj)tians knew of this
third motion), nevertheless magnanimously overlooked that
feature of the case and said that he had not lost faith in
M. Reziau's tlieory on that account. He pu])lishpd an ex-
planation and an essay by 'SI. Beziau, wherein the motion
and its effects upon the surface of the Earth were described
in terms similar to those used by Madame Blavatsky and
Mr. Sutcliife. M. Beziau is not definitely "billed" as an
occultist, tlierefore his discovery may be countenanced.
^lany instances might be cited showing how occult in-
formation has been corroborated later by material science.
One of them is the atomistic theory, wliich is advocated in
tlie Greek philosophies and later in "The Secret Doc-
trine." It was "discovered" in 1807, by Professor Thom-
son.
In Mr. A. P. Sinnett's valual)le work, "The Growth of
the Soul," published in 18i)G, the author stated that there
are two planets beyond the orbit of Neptune, only one of
which, he thought, would be discovered by modern astron-
omers. In Nafnre for August. 1906, the statement is made
that Professor Barnard, through the 36-inch Lick refrac-
17
514 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
tor, had discovered such a planet in 1S92. There had been
no mistake about it, yet he waited fourteen years before he
announced his discovery ! One need not be concerned
about that, however. The main point is that the planet is
there, and that Mr. Sinnett's book said so ten years before
Professor Barnard's claim to prior discovery. Probably,
previous to 1906 the announcement of the newly discovered
planet might have tended to disarrange some popularly
accepted theory !
There are many such theories. The Copernican theory
is not altogether correct, and there are many facts that
cannot be accounted for by the lauded Nebular theory
alone. Tycho Brahe, the famous Danish astronomer, re-
fused to accept the Copernican theory. He had a very good
reason for remaining true to the Ptolemaic theory because,
as he said, by it the movements of the planets figured out
correctly, while with the Copernican theor}', it is neces-
sary to use a table of corrections. The Ptolemaic system
is correct from the standpoint of the Desire World, and it
has points that are needed in the Physical "World.
By many the statements made in the foregoing pages
will be considered fantastic. Be it so. Time will bring to
all a knowledge of the facts herein set forth. This book
is only for the few who, having freed their minds from the
shackles of orthodox science and religion, are ready to
accept this until they have proven it wrong.
i
CHAPTER XIX.
Christian Rosenkreuz and the Order of Rosicrucians
Ancient Truths in Modern Dress
Having encountered among the public a widespread
desire to learn something of the Order of Rosicrucians,
and as there is a lack of understanding of the Important
place occupied by the Brothers of the Rose Cross in our
Western civilization, even among our students, it may be
well to furnish authentic information ui)on the subject.
Evei*ything in the world is subject to law, even our
evolution is thus encompassed ; si)iritual and physical
progression go hand in hand. The sun is the physical
light-bringer and, as we know, it apparently travels from
east to west bringing light and life to one part of the
earth after another. But the visible sun is only a part
of the sun as the visible body is a small part of composite
man. There is an invisible and spiritual sun whose rays
promote soul-growth upon one part of the earth after an-
other as the physical sun promotes the growth of form,
and this spiritual impulse also travels in the same direc-
tion as the physical sun; from east to west.
Six or seven hundred years B. C, a new wave of spirit-
uality was started near the eastern shoi-es of the Pacific
Ocean to give enlightenment to the Chinese nation and
the religion of Confucius is embraced to this day b.y many
millions in the celestial kingdom. Later we note the
effect of this wave in the religion of Buddha, a teaching
515
516 EOSICRUCIAX COSMO CONCEPTION
designed to stir the aspirations oi' millions of Hindus and
western Chinese. In its westward course it appears among
the more intellectual Greeks in the lofty philosophies of
Pythagoras and Plato, and at last it sweeps over the west-
ern world, among the pioneers of the human race, where
it takes the lofty form of the Christian religion.
The Christian religion has gradually worked its way to
the westward, even to the shores of the Pacific Ocean and
thither the spiritual aspirations are being massed and
concentrated. There they will reach a point of culmina-
tion, prior to taking a new leap across the ocean and in-
augurating a higher and more lofty spiritual awakening in
the Orient than now exists in that part of the earth.
Just as day and night, summer and winter, ebb and
flood, follow each other in unbroken sequence according
to the law of alternating cycles, so also the appearance of a
wave of spiritual awakening in any part of the world is
followed by a period of material reaction, so that our de-
velopment may not become onesided.
Eeligion, Art and Science are the three most important
means of human education, and they are a trinity in unity
which cannot be separated without distorting our view-
point of whatever we may investigate. True Religion em-
bodies both science and art, for it teaches a beautiful life
in harmony with the laws of nature.
True Science is artistic and religious in the highest sense,
for it teaches us to reverence and conform to laws govern-
ing our well-being and explains why the religious life is
conducive to health and beauty.
True Art is as educational as science and as uplifting
in its influence as religion. In architecture we have a most
sublime presentation of cosmic lines of force in the uni-
verse. It fills the spiritual beholder with a powerful devo-
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS 517
tion and adoration born of an awe-inspiring conception
of the overwhelming grandeur and majesty of Deity.
Sculpture and painting, music and literature inspire us
with a sense of transcendent loveliness of God, the im-
mutable source and goal of all this beautiful world.
Xothing short of such an all-e!nl)racing teaching will
answer the needs of humanity permanently. There was a
time, even as late as Greece, when Religion, Art and ."science
were taught unitedly in Mystery-temples. But it was neces-
sary to the l)etter development of each that they should
separate for a time.
Religion held sole sway in the so-called ''dark ages."
During that time it l>ound both Science and Art hand and
foot. Then came the period of Eeiiaissance and Art came
to the fore in all its branches. Religion was strong as yet,
however, and Art was only too often prostituted in the
service of Religion. Last came the wave of modern Science,
and with iron hand it has subjugated Religion.
It was a detriment to the world when Religion shackled
Science. Ignorance and Superstition caused untold woe,
nevertheless man cherished a lofty spiritual ideal then ; he
hoped for a higher and better life. It is infinitely more dis-
astrous that Science is killing Religion, for now even Hope,
the only gift of the gods left in Pandora's box, may vanish
before Materialism and Agnosticism.
Such a state cannot continue. Reaction must set in. If
it does not. Anarchy will rend the Cosmos. To avert a
calamity Religion, Science and Art must reunite in a higher
expression of the Good, the True and the Beautiful than
obtained before the separation.
Coming events cast their shadows before, and when tlie
Great Leaders of humanity saw the tendency towards ultra-
materialism which is now rampant in the Western World,
518 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
they took certain steps to counteract and transmute it at
the auspicious time. They did not wisli to kill the bud-
ding Science as the latter has strangled Keligion, for they
saw the ultimate good which will result when an advanced
Science has again become the co-worker of Eeligion.
A spiritual Religion, however, cannot blend with a ma-
terialistic Science any more than oil can mix with water.
Therefore steps were taken to spiritualize Science and make
Religion scientific.
In the thirteenth century a high spritual teacher, having
the symbolical name Christian Eosenkreuz — Christian :
Rose : Cross — appeared in Europe to commence that work.
He founded the mysterious Order of Rosicrucians with the
object of throwing occult light upon the misunderstood
Christian Religion and to explain the mystery of Life and
Being from the scientific standpoint in harmony with
Religion.
^Many centuries have rolled by since the birth, as Chris-
tian Rosenkreuz, of the Founder of the Rosicrucian Mystery
School, and by many his existence is even regarded as a
myth. But his birth as Christian Rosenkreuz marked the
beginning of a new epoch in spiritual life of the Western
World. That particular Ego has also been in continuous
physical existence ever since, in one or another of the
European Countries. He has taken a new body when his
successive vehicles have outlived their usefulness, or cir-
cumstances rendered it expedient that he change the scene
of his activities. Moreover, he is embodied today — an
Initiate of high degree; an active and potent factor in all
affairs of the West — although unknown to the World.
He labored with the Alcliemists centuries before the ad-
vent of modern science. He, through an intermediary, in-
spired the now-mutilated works of Bacon. Jacob Boehme
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS 519
and others received through him the inspiration whith
makes their works so spiritually illuminating. In the
works of the immortal Goethe and the master])ieces of
Wagner the same influence meets us. All undaunted spirits
who refuse to be fettered by either orthodox science or or-
thodox religion, who fling away the husks and penetrate to
the spiritual kernel regardless of vilification or of flattery,
draw their inspiration from the same fountain as did and
does the great spirit which animated Christian Rosenkreuz.
His very name is an embodiment of the manner and the
means by which the present-day man is transformed into
the Divine Superman. This symbol,
"Christian Eosen Kreuz"'
[The] Christian Eose Cross,
shows the end and aim of luiman evolution; the road to be
traveled, and the means whereby that end is gained. The
black cross, the twining green stem of the plant, the thorns,
the blood-red roses — in these is hidden the solution of the
World Mystery — Plan's past evolution, present constitu-
tion, and particularly the secret of his future development.
It hides from the profane, but reveals to the Initiate the
more clearly how he is to labor day by day to make for
himself that choicest of all gems, the Philosopher's Stone —
more precious than the Kohinoor; nay, than the sum of
all earthly wealth ! It reminds him how mankind, in its
ignorance, is hourly wasting the actual concrete material
that might be used in the formation of this priceless
treasure.
To keep him steadfast and true tlirough every adversity,
the Rose-cross holds aloft, as an inspiration, the glorious
consummation in store for him that overcometh, and points
520 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
to Christ as the Star of Hope, the "first fruits," Who
wrought this marvelous Stone while inhabiting the body
of Jesus.
Upon investigation it has been found that there was in
all systems of Religion a teaching reserved for the Priest-
craft and not given to the multitude. The Christ also
spoke to the multitude in parables, but explained the inner
meaning of these parables to the disciples, to give them an
understanding more suited to their developed minds.
Paul gave ' ' milk ' ' to the hahes or younger members of
the community, but "meat" to the strong who had stud-
ied more deeply. Thus there has always been an inner
and an outer teaching, and this inner teaching was given
in so-called Mystery Schools which have changed from
time to time to suit the needs of the people among whom
they were designed to work.
The Order of Rosicrucians is not merely a secret so-
ciety ; it is one of the Mystery Schools, and the Brothers
are Hierophants of the lesser Mysteries; Custodians of
the Sacred Teachings and a spiritual Power more potent
in the life of the Western World than any of the visible
Governments; though they may not interfere with hu-
manity so as to deprive them of their free-will.
As the path of development in all cases depends upon
the temperament of the aspirant, there are two paths,
the mystic and the mtellectnal. The Mystic is usually de-
void of intellectual knowledge ; he follows the dictates of
his heart and strives to do the will of God as he feels it,
lifting himself upward without being conscious of any
definite goal, and in the end he attains to knowledge. In
the middle ages people were not as intellectual as we are
nowadays, and those who felt the call of a higher life
usually followed the mystic path. But in the last few
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS 521
hundred years, since the advent of modern science, a more
intellectual liumanity has j)eoplc'd the earth ; the head lias
completely overruled the heart, materialism has dominated
all spiritual impulse and the majority of thinking people
do not believe anything they cannot touch, taste or handle.
Therefore, it is necessary that appeal should be made to
their intellect in order that the heart may 1x3 allowed to
believe what the intellect has sanctioned. As a response
to this demand the Kosicrucian Mystery teachings aim to
correlate scientific facts to spiritual verities.
In the past these have been kept secret from all hut a
few Initiates, and even today they are iiiiuing the most mvs-
terious and secret in the Western WorKl. All so-called
"discoveries" of the past which have professed to reveal
the Kosicrucian secrets, have been either fraudulent, or
the result of treachery \ij)on the part of some outsider who
nu\y, accidentally or otherwise, have overheard fragments
of conversation, unintelligible to all but those wlio have
the key. It is possible to live under tlie same roof and on
terms of the closest intimacy with an Initiate of any school,
yet his secret will always remain hidden in his breast until
the friend has reached the point where he can become a
Brother Initiate. The revealing of secrets does not depend
upon the Will of the Initiate, but upon the (|ualilications of
the aspirant.
Like all other ^Mystery-Ordci's, tju' Ordi'r of IJosicrucians
is formed on cosmic lines: If we take balls of evi'n size
and try how many it will take to cover one aiul hide it
from view, we shall (ind that it will re(|uire Iv to conceal
a tbii-tccnth ball. 'I'he ultimate division of physical nuit-
ter, the true atom, found in interplanetary space, is thus
groujied in twelve around one. The twelve signs of the
Zodiac enveloping our Solar System, the twelve semi-tones
523 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
of the nnisical soalo comprising the octave, the twelve
Apostles wlio clustered around the Christ, etc., are other
examples of this grouping of 12 and 1. The Eosicrucian
Order is therefore also composed of 12 Brothers and a 13th.
There are other divisions to be noted, however. We have
seen that of the Heavenly Host of twelve Creative Hier-
archies who were active in our scheme of evolution, five
have withdrawn to liberation, leaving only seven to busy
themselves with our further progress. It is in harmony
with this fact that the man of today, the indwelling Ego,
the microcosm, works outwards through seven visible ori-
fices in his body : 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils and a mouth,
while live more orifices are wholly or partially closed; the
mamma?, the umbilicus and the two excretory organs.
The seven roses which garnish our beautiful emblem and
the five pointed radiating star behind, are emblematical of
the twelve CTreat Creative Hierarchies which have assisted
the evolving human spirit through the previous conditions
as mineral, plant and animal, when it was devoid of self-
consciousness and unable to care for itself in the slightest
degree. Of these twelve hosts of Great Beings, three classes
worked upon and with man of their own free wills and
without any obligation whatever.
These are symbolized by the three points in the star upon
our emblem which point upwards. Two more of the Great
Hierarchies are upon the point of withdrawal, and these
are pictured in the two points of the star which radiate
downward from the center. The seven roses reveal the
fact that there are still seven Great Creative Hierarchies
active in the development of the beings upon earth, and as
all of these various classes from the smallest to the great-
est are but parts of One Great "Whole whom we call God,
the whole emblem is a symbol of God in manifestation.
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS 523
I
The Hermetic axiom says : "As above so below," and the
lesser teachers of mankind are also grouped upon the same
cosmic lines of 7, 5 and 1. There are upon earth seven,
schools of the lesser Mysteries, five of the Greater Mysteries
and the whole is grouped under one Central Head Who is
called the Liberator,
In the Order of Rosicrucians seven Brothers go out into
the World whenever occasion requires; appearing as men
among other men or working in their invisible vehicles
with or upon others as needed ; yet it must be strictly kept
in mind that they never influence anyone against their will
or contrary to their desires; but only strengthen good
wherever found.
The remaining five Brothers never leave the temple ; and
though they do possess physical bodies all their work is done
from the inner Worlds.
The Thirteenth is Head of the Order, the link with a
higher Central Council composed of the Hierophants of the
Greater Mysteries, who do not deal with ordinary humanity
at all, but only with graduates of the lesser Mysteries.
The Head of the Order is hidden from the outside world
by the twelve Brothers, as the central ball mentioned in
our illustration. Even the pupils of the School never see
him, but at the nightly Services in the Temple His presence
is felt by all, whenever He enters, and is the signal for the
commencement of the ceremony.
Gathered around the Brothers of the Kose Cross, as their
pupils, are a number of "lay-brothers"; jioople who live in
various parts of the Western World, but are able to leave
their bodies consciously, attend the services and participate
in the spiritual work at the temple : they having each and
every one been "initiated"' in the method of so doing by
one of the p]lder Brothers. Most of them are able to re-
524 KOSICKUCIAX COSMO CONCEPTION
member all that happens, but there are a few cases where
the faculty of leaving the body was acquired in a previous
life of well-doing and where a drug-habit or a sickness con-
tracted in the present existence has unfitted the brain to
receive impression of the work done by the man when away.
Initiation.
The general idea of initiation is tliat it is merely a cere-
mony which makes one a member of a secret society; that
it may be conferred upon anyone willing to pay a certain
price, a sum of money in most cases.
While that is true of the so-called initiation of fraternal
orders and also in most pseudo-occult orders, it is alto-
gether an erroneoys idea when applied to initiations into
various degrees of truly occult Brotherhoods, as a little
understanding of the real requirements and of their reason-
ableness will readily make clear.
In the first place there is no golden key to the temple;
merit counts but not money. Merit is not acquired in a
day ; it is the cumulative product of past good action. The
Candidate for initiation is usually totally unconscious that
he is a candidate, he is usually living his life in the com-
munity and serving his fellow-man for days and years with-
out any ulterior thought until one day there appears in his
life the teacher, a Hierophant of the lesser Mysteries appro-
priate to the country in which he resides. By this time the
candidate has cultivated within himself certain faculties,
stored up certain powers for service and help, of which he
is usually unconscious or which he does not know how to
properly utilize. The task of the initiator will now be
plain, he shows the candidate thelatent faculties, the dor-
mant powers and initiates him into their use; explains
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIAXS 525
or demonstrates to him for the first time how the candidate
may awaken the static energy into a dynamic po\ver.
Initiation may be accomplished by a ceremony, or not,
but let it be particularly observed, that while Initiation
is the inevitable culmination of prolonged spiritual en-
deavor, whether conscious or the reverse upon the part
of the candidate, it can positively never take place till
the requisite inner development has accumulated the latent
powers which Initiation teaches how to use dynamically,
any more than pulling the trigger can cause an explosion
in a gun that has not first been loaded.
Neither is there any danger that the teacher may over-
look anyone who has attained the requisite development.
Each good and unselfish deed increases the luminosity and
vibrant power of the candidate's aura enormously, and as
surely as the magnet attracts the needle, so will the brill-
iancy of that auric light bring the teacher.
It is, of course, imj)ossible to describe in a book intended
for the general pul)lic the stages of the Eosicrucian Initia-
tion ; to do so would be a breach of faith, and it wouUl also
be impossible for lack of words to adequately express one-
self. But it is permissible to givo an outline and to show
the purjiose of initiation.
The lesser ^Fystcries deal only with evolution of man-
kind (luring the Earth Period. In the first three and one-
half Kevolutions of the life-wave around the seven globes
the Virgin Spirits had not yet attained consciousness. In
(■oiiseqiience of this fact we are ignorant of haw we came to
Ik? as we are today. The candidate is to have light upon
that sul)ject so by the spell of the Hierophants during the
])erio(l of initiation info th(> first degree his consciousness is
turned towards that page of the memory of nature bearing
the records of the first revolution when we recapitulated ihe
526 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
development of the Saturu I'eriod. He is still in full pos-
session of his every-day consciousness; he knows and re-
members the facts of twentieth Century life, but he is now
consciously watching the progress of the evolving host of
A'irgin Spirits of which he formed one unit during the
Saturn Eevolution. Thus he learns how the first steps
were taken in the Earth Period towards the goal of attain-
ment which will be revealed to him in a later step.
Having learned the lesson as practically described in
Chapter X, the candidate has acquired first-hand knowl-
edge upon this subject and has come into direct touch with
the Creative Hierarchies in their work with and upon man ;
he is therefore able' to appreciate their beneficent labors in
the World and is in a measure able to range himself in line
with them ; becoming thus far their co-worker.
When the time has arrived for him to take the second
degree, he is similarly caused to turn his attention to the
conditions of the second Eevolution of the Earth-Period,
and as depicted in the memory of nature ; then he watches
in full consciousness the progress made at that time by the
Virgin Spirits, much as Peter Ibbettson — the hero of a
book, "Peter Ibbettson," by George du JMaurier; it is well
worth reading, for it is a graphic description of certain
phases of subconsciousness — watched his child-life during
tlie nights when he "dreamed true." In the third degree he
follows the evolution of the third or Moon, Eevolution, and
in the fourth degree he sees the progress made in the half-
Ecvolution we have made of the fourth.
There is, however, a further step taken in each degree;
the pupil sees in addition to the work done in each revolu-
tion also the work accomplished in the corresponding Epoch
during our present stay upon globe D, the Earth.
During the first degree he follows the work of the Saturn
THE ORDER OF BOSICKUCIANS 527
Eevolution and its latest consummation in the Polarian
Epoch.
In the second degree he follows the work of the Sun
Eevolution and its replica : the Hyperborean Epoch.
During the third degree he watches the work as per-
formed in the Moon-Eevolution and sees how that was the
basis of life in the Lemurian Epoch.
During the fourth degree he sees the evolution of the
last half-Revolution with its corresponding period of time
in our present stay on Earth ; the first half of the Atlantean
Epoch which ended when the dense foggy atmosphere sub-
sided, and the sun first shone upon land and sea ; then the
night of unconsciousness was over, the eyes of the indwell-
ing Ego were fully opened, and he was able to turn the
Light of Eeason upon the problem of conquering the "World.
That was the time when a nmn as we now know him was
first-born.
AVhen in the olden sv^Il-ihs of initiation we hear that the
candidate was entranced for a period of three and one-half
days, reference is had to the part of initiation just described,
and the three and one-half days refer to the stages gone
through, they are not by any means days of twenty-four
hours; the actual time varies with each candidate, but in
all cases he is taken through tlie unconscious development
of mankind during the past Eevolutions, and when it is
said that he is awakened at the time of sunrise on the
fourth day that is the mystical way of expressing that his
initiation into the work of the involutionary career of man
ceases at the time when the sun rose above the clear atmos-
phere of Atlantis. Then the candidate is also hailed as a
"first-born."
Having become familiar with the road we have traveled
in the past, the fifth degree takes the candidate to the very
528 EOSICRUCIAX COSMO CONCEPTION
end of the Earth reriod, when a glorious humanity is gath-
ering the fruits of this Period and taking it away from the
seven globes upon which we evolve during each day of mani-
festation, into the first of the five dark globes which are
our habitation during the Cosmic nights. The densest of
these is located in the Region of Abstract Thought, and is
in reality the "Chaos" spoken of on page 249 and the fol-
lowing pages. This globe is also the Third Heaven, and
when Paul speaks of being caught up into the Third
Heaven and of seeing things there which he could not law-
fully reveal, he was referring to the experiences of an
equivalent of this fifth degree in the present Eosicrucian
Mysteries.
After being sliowu the end in the fifth degree, the candi-
date is made acquainted with the means whereby that end
is to be attained during the remaining three and one-half
Revolutions of the Earth Period ; the four remaining de-
grees being devoted to his enlightenment in that respect.
By the insight he has thus acquired he is alile to intelli-
gently co-operate ^^■ith the Powers that work for Good, and
thus he will help to hasten the day of our emancipation.
In order to rout a common misconception we wish to
make clear to students that we are not Kosicrucians because
we study their teachings, nor does even admission to the
temple entitle us to call ourselves by that name. The
writer, for instance, is only a lay-brother, a pupil, and would
under no circumstances call himself a Eosicrucian.
We know well, that when a boy has graduated from
grammar school he is not therefore fitted to teach. He
must first go through high school and college, and even
then he may not feel the call to be a school teacher.
Similarly in the school of life, because a man has grad-
uated from the Eosicrucian M3'stery School he is not even
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS 529
then a Kosiciucian. Liratluates from llio various scliools of
the lesser mysteries advance into five schools of the greater
mysteries. In the first four they pass the four Great Ini-
tiations and at last reach the Liberator, where they receive
a knowledge concerning other evolutions and are given the
choice of remaining here to assist their brothers or enter
other evolutions as Plelpers. Those who elect to stay here
as helpers are given various positions according to their
tastes and natural Ixint. The Brothers of the Rose Cross
are among those Compassionate Ones, and it is a sacrilege to
drag the Kosicrucian name in the mire by applying it to our-
selves when we are merely students of their lofty teachings.
During the past few centuries the Brothers have worked
for humanity in secret; each night at midnight there is a
Service at the temple where the Elder Brothers, assisted
by the lay-brothers who are able to leave their work in the
World (for many of them reside in places where it is yet
day when it is midnight in the location of the temple of the
Rose Cross), gather up from everywhere in the Western
World the thoughts of sensuality, greed, selfishness and
materialism. These they seek to transmute into pure love,
benevolence, altruism and spiritual aspirations sending
them back to the World to uplift and encourage all Good.
Were it not for this potent source of spiritual vibration
materialism must long ago have totally squelched all spir-
itual effort, for there has never Iwen a darker age from the
spiritual standpoint than the last three hundred years of
materialism.
Now the time has come, however, when the method of
secret endeavor is to be supplemented with a more direct
effort to promulgate a definite, logical and sequential teach-
ing concerning the origin, evolution and future develop-
ment of the World and man : showing both the spiritual
530 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
and the scientific aspect; a teaching which makes no state-
ments that are not supported by reason and logic; a
teaching which is satisfying to the mind, for it holds out a
reasonable solution to all mysteries; it neither begs nor
evades questions and its explanations are both profound
and lucid.
But, and this is a very important "But," the Rosicrucians
do not regard aif, intellectual understanding of God and the
Universe as an end in itself; far from it! The greater the
intellect, the greater the danger of its misuse. Therefore,
this scientific, logical and exhaustive teaching is given in
order that man may believe in Itis heart that which liis head
has sanctioned and start to live the religious life.
The Eosicrucian Fellowship.
In order to promulgate this teaching the Eosicrucian
Fellowship has been formed, and anyone who is not a
HYPiVOTLST, professional medium, clairvoyant, palmist
or ASTROLOGER, may enroll as a Student by writing to the
General Secretary. There is no fee for Initiation, or dues,
^loney cannot buy our teaching, advancement depends on
merit.
When a student of the Eosicrucian teachings has become
so imbued with the verity thereof, tliat he is prepared to
sever his connection with all other occult or religious or-
ders — the Christian Churches and Fraternal Orders are
excepted — he may assume the Obligation which admits him
to the degree of Prohafioner.
We do not mean to insinuate by the foregoing clause
that all other schools of occultism are of no account — far
from it — many roads lead to Eome, but we shall attain
with much less effort if we follow one of them than if we
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS 531
zigzag from path to ])ath. Our time and energy are limited
in the first place, and are still further curtailed by family
and social duties not to be neglected for self-development.
It is to husband the minim of energy which we may legiti-
mately expend upon ourselves, and to avoid waste of the
scanty moments at our disposal, that resignation from all
other Orders is insisted upon by the leaders.
The world is an aggregate of opportunities, but to take
advantage of an}- one of them we must possess etliciency in
a certain line of endeavor. Development of our spiritual
powers will enable us to help or harm our weaker brothers.
It is only justifiable when efficiency in Service of Humanity
is the object.
The Rosicrucian method of attainment diifers from other
systems in one especial particular: It aims, even at the
very start, to emancipate the pupil from dependence upon
others, to make him Self -Reliant in the very highest degree,
so that he may be able to stand alone under all circum-
stances and cope Avith all conditions. Only one who is
thus strongly poised can help the weak.
When a number nf people meet in a class or circle for
self-development along Xegative lines, results are usually
achieved in a short time on the principle that it is easier
to drift with the tide than to breast the current. The
medium is not nuister of his actions, however, but the
slave of a spirit control. Hence such gatherings must be
shunned by Probationers.
Even classes which meet in positive attitude of mind arc
not advised by the Elder Brothers, because the latent powers
of all members are massed and visions of the inner worlds
obtained l)y anyont^ there, are partly due to the faculties
of others. The heat of coal in the center of a lire is en-
hanced by surrounding coals, and the clairvoyant produced
532 UOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
in a circle, be it ever so positive, is a hot-house plant, too
dependent himself to be trusted with the care of others.
Therefore each Probationer in the Rosicrueian Fel-
lowship performs his exercises in the seclusion and pri-
vacy of his room. Results may be obtained more slowly
1)3^ this system, but when they appear, they will be man-
ifest as powers cultivated by himself, useable independ-
ently of all others. Besides, the Rosicrueian methods
build character at the same time as they develop spirit-
ual faculties and thus safeguard the pupil against yield-
ing to temptation to prostitute divine powers for world-
ly prestige.
When the Probationer has complied with the neces-
sary requirements and completed the tenn of proba-
tion, he may send request for individual instruction by
the Elder Brothers through the General Secretary.
Tlie International Headquarters of the
Rosicrueian Fellowship.
Having formed the Rosicrueian Fellowship for the
purpose of promulgating the teaching given in this
book, and aiding asi)irants on the path of progression,
it became necessary to find a permanent home and fa-
cilities requisite for doing this work. To this end a
tract of land was purchased in the town of Oceanside,
Cal., ninety miles south of Los Angeles and forty miles
north of San Diego, the southwesternmost city of the
United States.
This tract occupies a commanding site having a most
wonderful view of the great Pacific Ocean to the west
and the beautiful snow capped mountains in the east.
Southern California offers exceptional opportunities
for spiritual growth, because of the ether atmosphere
being denser than in any other part of the world and
Mount Ecclesia as the Rosicrueian Fellowship Head-
quarters are called, has been particularly favored in
this respect.
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCUNS 533
Our Buildings.
The work was started in the end of 1911. Since then
there has been built a Sanctuary wherein the Rosieru-
cian temple services are held. A two story Adminhiro
Hon Building containing on the second floor, the offi-
ces of the various executives, a large general office, the
publishing and editorial departments. On the first
floor is a large, Avell equipped printing office, including
a linotype, cylinder and plateii presses, folding ma-
chine, paper cutter, also a complete book bindery which
enables us to produce our entire publications from set-
ting of the type to the finished product. In this de-
partment a monthly magazine, "rays from the rose
CROSS," is printed, in fact the entire Rosicrucian Fel-
lowship publications.
There is a modern fireproof Dining Hall with a cap-
acity to accommodate one hundred and twenty at once.
In it a wholesome, nutritious meatless diet is served to
workers and visitors. There is also a Ladies' Dormi-
tory with a commodious class room and social hall, a
number of Cottages and a Tent City to take care of the
over flow of visitoi-s during the vacation season. The
Grounds are growing more beautiful year by ye<ir, hun-
dreds of palms and a profusion of flowers such as seen
only in C'alifornia add to the inspiration and makes
this place a paradise in the truest sense of the word.
The Correspondence Scliool.
In addition to publications of the Rosicrucian Fel-
lowship noted in the back of this book there are two
correspondence courses which furnish instruction to
students who are desirous of growth and enlightenment
by study of the Rosicrucian Mysteries and tlir Sirlmn
of Astrology.
534 ROSICRUCIAX COSMO CONCEPTION
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ROSE CROSS
"When inquiring into the meaning of any myth, legend or
symbol of occult value, it is an absolute necessity that we
should understand that, like any object in the three-dimen-
sional world may, or rather must, be viewed from all points
to obtain a full and complete comprehension thereof, so all
s}Tnbols have a number of aspects. Each viewpoint reveals
a different phase from the others, and all have an equal
claim to consideration.
Viewed in its fullness, this wonderful symbol contains
the key to man's past evolution, his present constitution
and future development, together with the metliod of attain-
ment. In the form where it is represented with a single
rose in the center it symbolizes the spirit radiating from
itself the four vehicles: the dense, vital and desire-bodies
plus the mind; where the s])irit has drawn iiito its instru-
ments and become the indwelling human spirit. But there
was a time when that condition did not obtain, a time when
the three-fold spirit hovered al)ove its vehicles and was un-
able to enter. Then the cross stood alone without the rose,
symbolizing the condition which prevailed in the early
third of Atlantis. There was even a time when the upper
limb of the cross was lacking and man's constitution was
represented by the Tau (T) that was in the Lemurian
THE.ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS 535
epoch when he had only the dense, vital and desire bod-
ies, but lacked the mind. Then the animal nature was
paramount. Man followed desire without reserve. At a
still earlier time, in the Hyperborean Epoch, he was also
minus desire-bod}' and possessed only of the dense and
vital bodies. Then man-in-the-making was like the
plants: chaste and devoid of desire. At that time his
constitution could not have been represented by a cross.
It was symbolized by a straight shaft, a pillar (I).
This symbol has been considered phallic, an emblem
showing the licentiousnessof the people who worshiped it.
Truly it is a symbol of generation, but generation is by no
means synonymous with degradation — far from it — the
pillar is the lower limb of tlie cross, symbolical of man-in-
the-making when he was plantlike. The plant is uncon-
scious of ]iassion, desire, innocent of evil. It generates
and perpetuates its species in a manner so pure, so chaste,
that, properly understood, it is a model for fallen and
passionate humanity to worship as an ideal and it was
given to earlier races with that intent. The Phallus and
Yona used in the Greek mystery temples were given by
the hicrophants in that spirit, and over the temple was
placed the enigmatical words: ''^lan, know thyself,"
which, properly understood, is similar to the Rose Cross,
for it shows the reason for man's fall into desire, passion
and sin. and gives the key to his liberation in the same way
that the roses upon the cross indicate the path of liberation.
The ])lant is innocent, hut nnt virtu/yus: it has neither
desire nor choice. Man has both. lie may follow desire or
not as he wishes, that he may learn to master himself.
While he was plant-like, a hermaphrodite, he could gen-
erate from himself without the help of another, but though
he was chaste and as innocent as the plants, he was also
536 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
as unconscious and inert. In ordu- to advance he must
have desire to spur him on, and a mind to guide him, and
therefore half his creative force was retained for the pur-
pose of l)uildinc: a Ijrain and a hirvnx. He liad at that
time a round shape simihir to that of the embryo, and
the present hirvnx was a part of the creative organ which
adhered to the head when the body straightened out. The
connection between the two is seen even today in the fact
that the boy, who expresses the positive pole of the gener-
ative force, changes his voice at pu])erty. That the same
force which builds another body when it is sent outwards
builds the lu'ain when retained is equally clear when we con-
sider that sex-mania leads to insanity, while the profound
thinker will feel little inclination for amorous practices.
He uses all his creative force to generate thought instead
of wasting it in sense-gratification.
At the time when man commenced to withhold half his
creative force for the above-mentioned purpose, his con-
sciousness was directed inwards to build organs. He was
capable of seeing these organs and he used the same creative
force then under the direction of Creative Hierarchies in
planning and in executing plans of organs, that he now
uses in the outer world to build airships, houses, automo-
biles, telephones, etc. Then he was unconscious of how that
half of the creative force was used which was sent outwards
for generation of another body.
Generation was carried on under the guidance of Angels.
At certain times of the year they herded the growing man
together in great temples and there the generative act was
performed. Man was unconscious of the fact. His eyes
had not yet been opened, and though it was necessary for
him to have a partner who had the half or other pole of the
creative force available for generation which he retained to
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS 53;-
build organs within, he did not at first know his wife. In or-
dinary life he was shut within himself so far as the Physical
World was concerned, but it was different when he was
brought into such intimate and close touch with another, as
in the case in the generative act. Then for the moment the
spirit pierced the veil of flesh and Adam hieic his wife. He
had ceased to know himself — thus his consciousness became
more and more and more centered outside himself in the
outside world and he lost his inner perception. That can-
not be fully regained until he has passed to the stage where
it is no longer necessary to have a partner in generation,
and he has reached the development where he can again
utilize his whole creative force at will. Then he will again
know himself as he did during his stage of plant-like ex-
istence, but with this all-important difference that he will
use his creative faculty consciously, and will not be re-
stricted to using it solely for the j)ro-creation of his own
species, but may create whatever he will. Neither will he
use his present organs of generation, but the larynx will
speak the creative word as directed by the spirit through tlie
co-ordinating mechanism of the brain. Thus the two or-
gans built by half the creative force will in time be the
means wherel)y man will eventually become an independent
self-conscious creator.
Even at the present time man molds matter l)nth l)y
thought and voice, as instanced in scientific exiK-riments
where thoughts have created an image on photographic
plates, and where the Iniman voice has created geoinotricnl
(igurcs in sand, etc. In jiroportion as man lu'comes unselfish
he will release the creative force held in leash. That will
give him added thought power and enable him to utilize it
for upliftnient of others instead of to |)lan how to degrade
and subject others to his will. He will learn how to master
538 EOSICRUCIAX COSMO CONCEPTION
himself and cease to try to master others, except it be done
temporarily for their good, but never for selfish ends. Only
one who has mastered himself is qualified to rule others,
and competent to judge when that should be done, and
what is best for thein.
Thus we see that in time the present passionate mode of
generation will be again superceded by a pure and more
efficient method than the present, and that also is symbol-
ized in the Kose Cross where the rose is placed in the center
between the four arms. The long limb represents the body,
the two horizontals, the two arms and the short upper limb,
the head. The the rose is in place of the larynx.
The rose, like any other flower, is the generative organ
of the plant. Its green stem carries the colorless, passion-
less plant-blood. The blood-red rose shows the passion filled
blood of the human race, but in the rose the vital fluid is
not sensuous, it is chaste and pure. Thus it is an excellent
symbol of the generative organ in the pure and holy state
to which man will attain when he has cleansed and purified
his blood from desire, when he has become chaste, pure and
Christ-like.
Therefore the Eosicrucians look ardently forward to the
day when the roses shall bloom upon the cross of humanity,
therefore the Elder Brothers greet the aspiring soul with
the words of the Eosicrucian Greeting: "May the Eoses
bloom upon your Cross," and therefore the greeting is given
in the meetings of the Fellowship Centers by the leader to
the assembled students, probationers and disciples who re-
spond to the greeting by saying "And on 3'ours, also."
John speaks of his purification (1st epistle, iii, 9) and
says that he who is born of God cannot sin, for he Iceepeth
his seed within him. It is an absolute necessity to progress
that the aspirant should be chaste. Yet it must also be
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS 539
borne in mind, that absolute celibacy is not re(|iured of man
until he has reached a point where he is ready for the great
initiations, and that it is a duty we owe to the whole to per-
petuate the race. If we are mentally, morally, physically
and financially able, we may approach the act of generation
as a holy sacrifice laid upon the altar of humanity, but not
for sensual pleasure. Neither should it be performed in an
austere, forbidding frame of m.ind, but in glad giving up of
oneself for the privilege of furnishing a friend seeking in-
carnation with the body and environment he needs for
development. Thus we shall also help him cultivate the
blooming roses upon his cross.
AIpl]abrttral iCist of the HHnriiB dlnbrxrlJ
Important Xotice.
The Index is arranged with particular view to facilitate
topical study, but at tiie same time alphabetical order has
been adliered to as nearly as possible. We add an alpha-
betical list of the words indexed.
Opposite each word in this list will be found a number,
which refers to a page in the Index. On that page the
word is grouped with others pertaining to the same topic.
The student is particularly requested to note the con-
secutive arrang(>ment of rctV'rcnces. For instance, under
the heading, "Vital Body," the first relerence tells where
that vehicle had its first ince])tion, the last directs to a page
which treats of it? final spiritualization, and the inter-
vening references point in orderly succession to the places
where its gradual unfoldment is described. These refer-
ences, in themselves, form an excellent syllabus of the
vital body.
By diligent and intolligtmt use of this index the Hosi-
crucian Cosmo Conception will be found a most comjilete
and exhaustive reference library, and we recommend
students to study the index as much as the book. The
540
ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION
mere reading of references will often clear comprehension
of a subject and reveal much that is hidden in a general
reading of the book.
Page
Adaptability 543
Adept 543
Adoration 568
Akkadian Race 596
Anaesthetics 544
Angels 551, 553
Animals 543, 553
Archangels 551, 553
Archetypes 544
Aryan Epoch 597
Assimilation 562
Astrology 544
Atlantean Epoch 596
Atoms 544
Attraction 590
B
Bible Texts 544
Birth 564
Blood 559
Borderland 566
Brain 561
Brotherhood 546
C
Causation; Law of 569
Celibacy 577
Chemical Ether 589
Cherubim 550
Children 557
Chosen People 596, 597
Christ 548
Christian Doctrines .... 546
Clairvoyance 568
Color 548
Concentration 567
Conception 564
Conscience 546
Consciousness 547
Contemplation 568
Cosmic Night or Chaos. . 594
Creative Hierarchies . . . 548
Creator 546
Cremation 565
Crime 548
Cross 548
D
Page
Death 564
Decay 565
Dense Body 558
Desire 554
Desire Body 572
Desire World 590
Destiny 555
Digestion 562
Discrimination 567
Disease 554
Divine Spirit 576
Doctrines, Christian .... 546
Dreams 554
Drowning 554
Drunkard 554
E
Ear 559
Earth 583
Earth Period 592
Ego 575
Elementals 554
Elements 554
Epigenesis 569
Epochs 594
Equinox ; Precession . . . 579
Ether 589, 590
Evil 554
Evolution 568
Excretion 562
Exercises 567
Eye 559
Faith 554
Father ; The 548
Feeling 554
Fertilization 555
Food 555
Forces 555
Forgiveness of Sin 555
Form V 556
Free-will 555
LIST OF WORDS INDEXED
541
Genius 556
Glands 560
God 548
Good 556
Group Spirit 552
H
Heart 500
Haemolysis 559
Heaven 566
Heredity 570
Holy Spirit 549
Humanity 557
Human Orfjanisni 558
Human Spirit 576
Hierarchies; Creative 548
Hyperborean Epocli 595
Hypnotism 556
I
Ideas 566
Individuality 566
Initiation 567
Instinct 566
Intuition 5(50
Information 5()(i
Involution 5().s
Innocence 5()()
Interest 500
Indifference 59ii
Illustrations oS")
Imayinatiiin 5()()
Immortality 566
J
Jehovah 54<i
Jupiter 5Sl'
Jupiter Period 5ii;{
Jews 5<.l7
K
Knowledge 5ti!t
Kingdoms 569
L
Law of Causation 569
Law of Rebirth 570
Life 5(i:?
Life-waves 5.");!
Lucifer 551
Lamentations 569
Light Ether 590
Page
Life Ether 589
Lungs 5(50
Larynx 5(;i
Liver 500
Lemurian Epoch 595
Lemurian Race 596
Life Spirit 576
Lords of Flame 549
Lords of Wisdom 550
Lords of Individuality..., 550
Lords of Form 550
Lords of .Mind 551-553
M
^lan (visible) 557
Man (invisible) 570
Marriage 576
Matter 5s5
^laterialization 577
Mathematics 577
Materialism 577
Mars 5s3
Mediums 577
Meditation 567
Memory 577
Memory of Nature 578
Mon.struation 578
Mercury 5S3
Mind 574
Mind ; Lords of 551-553
Mineral 573
Microbes 578
Missionary 578
Moons 5,S2
.Moon Period 592
Mongolians 596
Music 578
^'ii'^'des 5fi0
Mystery Schools 567
N
>«'-ra.vs 578
Nebular Theory 578
Neptune 5,v3
Nerves 561
New Jeru,<;aleni 579
New Life Waves 552
O
Observation 567
Organism ; human 558
542
ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
Page
Original Semitic 596
Original Turanian 596
Osmosis 579
P
Panorama of Life 565
Pain 579
Patriotism 579
Periods; the seven 591
Philosopher 's Stone 579
Physical World 589
Pilgrimage through matter 579
Pituitary Bodv 560
Pineal Gland 560
Plants 553-579
Planets 582
Polarian Epoch 594
Poems 580
Prayer 579
Precession of Equinox.... 579
Purgatory 565
R
Races 596
Race Spirits 551-553
Religion 580
Remorse 554
Repulsion 590
Reason 580
Rebirth; Law of 570
Reflecting Ether 590
Recapitulation 594
Revolutions 594
Recording Angels 580
Regions 5S9-591
Retrospection 567
Ribs 562
Rmoahal Race 596
Rosicrucians 581
S
Salvation 581
Saturn Period 591
Scepticism 554
Secdatom 562
Sense Perception 581
Sex 561
Silver Cord 565
Skeleton 562
Sleep 581
Space 585
Spirit 585
Page
Spirit (Group) 552
Spirit (Human) 576
Spirit (Holy) 549
Spirit (7 before Throne).. 548
Stories 585
Stones 584
Stone; Philosopher's 579
Seraphim 550
Solar System 581
Soul 584
Sound 584
Son; the 548
Spleen 560
Stragglers 552
Sun; the 582
Sun Period 591
Supreme Being 548
Suicide 565
Sin; Forgiveness of 555
T
Tears 578
Temperament 587
Temptation 587
Thought 587
Thymus Gland 560
TlaVatli Race 596
Toltec Race 596
Turanian Race 596
Trance 587
Transmigration 587
Trinity 548
V
Venus 583
Venus Period 593
Vesuvius 588
Virtue 588
Vitality 588
Vital Body 570
Virgin Spirits 551-553
Vulcan Period 594
W
War 588
Will 588
Wisdom 588
Women 557
World-Soul 588
Worlds 589
World Periods 591
Word 588
inbex
PAGE
Adaptability ; of supreme imiiortanee 223
Adept; One who has passed the 9 degrees of the lesser Mys-
teries and the first of the Great Initiations 475, 502
Animals.
Animals started evolution in the Sun Period, became
human in Jupiter Perioil 7(1. 224
Why some have cold and others warm blood 37
Why their color often changes with the seasons 37
Animals compared with man 57
Why animals do not really think 59, 70
Desirebody of cold and warm-blooded animals difl'ereiitly
constituted <i8, 69
The present animals are more developed tlian we were
during our animal stage 69
How animals think tliough lacking mind 70
Animal group spirit located in Desireworiil 77
Why desire and vital bodies of animals are not concentric
w ith dense body 77
Animal prodigies 77, 293
Why animals are clairvoyant 77
Relation of groupspirit to animals illustrated 78, 82
When hurt animals do not suffer as much as group spirit. 78
What instinct really is 78
Groupspirit governs the animals by suggestion 83. 350
Horizontal limb of cross symbolizes animal kingdom 86
Bereft of vital body at death loO
Archangels work in animals ' desirebodies 222
Angels work in their vital bodies 222
Anthropoids belong to human lifewave 230, 235
The missing link 311
Lemurian 's Word gave him power over animals 275, 2*^1
Horse's head and vital bo<ly not concentric 293
543
544 UOSU'RUCIAX COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Hapniolysis; the destruction of blood corpuscles :55(5
AVhy hybrids cannot mate 357
Groupspirit withholds seed atom from eggs pending favor-
able conditions 401
Anaesthetics ; their etfect on the vital body 62
Astrology; spiritually based in the Law of Causation 161
Atoms; How vital body accelerates their vibratory rate Gl
Archetypes.
Not merely models, but living things 49
Archetype of suicide's body persists after death and
causes him suffering 104
Bible Texts and Teachings.
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom, etc 5, 223
The truth shall make you free 23
In whom we live and move and have our being 87, 179
Whatsoever a man soweth that also shall he reap 106
Falling of the walls of Jericho 122
Misunderstanding concerning the plan of salvation. . . .151,223
Changing water to wine 159
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar, etc 158
Christ said of the Baptist: This is Elijah 169
Who did sin, this man or his parents? 170
Know ye not that ye are gods? 171
The Seven Spirits before the Throne 180. 252
The Word made flesh 181
Their eyes were opened and they saw they were naked. . . 190
Everlasting Salvation and Damnation 224, 229
I die daily (Paul) 249
Adam kne^v Eve and she bore Seth 277
The tree of Knowledge 278
The tree of Life 363
How shall I conceive, T Ijiotv not a man (Mary) 278
Why the Angel said: In pain shalt thou bear chiMren. . . . 278
Why foreign missions are a mistake 308
The sons of God married the daughters of men 310, 335
Location of the promised land 310, 335
The "lost" tribes 310.313
Chosen people— past and future 298, 305. 311. 334
A new heaven and a new earth 313
INDEX 545
PAGE
How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation.. . 315
Translation of the Bible discussed 317
Bible not intended as an "open book" 319,322
Paul asserts allegorical signification of Bible, he and
.Christ gave deeper teachings to a few 320
The Greek Septuagint; the Talmud and the transcrijjtion
of the Masoretes 536
A fallacious standard of Truth 321
Two renderings of the opening sentence in Genesis and
how each complements the other 321
According to the Bible the p]arth was formed from the
" everexisting essence," not from "nothing" 322
Nebular theory proves Gods creative and sustaining
energy 129, 323
The dual Creative force 324
The 7 Creative Hierarchies 325
Why Genesis does not mention Cherubim and Seraphim. . . 326
The Saturn Period 327
The Sun Period; how it is scientifically possible to have
light ere sun and moon were create<l 328
The Moon Period; its atmosphere of "firefog" 328
The Earth Period and Recapitulations 329
The Polarian Epoch; the Hyperborean Epoch 330
The Creation of the Sun 330
Expelling the Moon from the Earth 331
The Lemurian Epoch 331
"Form," not "Life," created 332
Atlantean Epoch; ''nophesli" an important word 332
Aryan Epoch; the I']lohim rest and man's work begins. . . . 333
Jehovah, leader of Angels an<l Regent of the Moon 333
Jehovah is builder of "Form"; giver of children 334
The wilderness; the rebel Jews 335
Involution, Evolution and Epigenesis 336
How the two Creation stories of Bible liarmonizo 344
Jehovah blew ncphrsh: breath into Adam's nostrils and
Adam became nejihcsh chayim : breathing creatures.. 345
Occult efifect of this inbreatliing 348, 350
The sold (not merely the "lifr") of all flesh is in the
blood 349
18
546 BOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
The seed of Abraham 351
Before Abraham was I am 352
How and why the Lucifer Spirits spoke to woman 361
Atonement of Christ and Forgiveness of sins complement
the Law of Causation 373, 401
Jesus, Christ, the only begotten, not one but three 374
On earth peace ; good will among men 387
I came not to bring peace, but a sword 383
An eye for an eye 384
Return good for evil 393
As a man thinketh in his heart 398
Why Christ 's mission required a violent ending 406, 408
The Cleansing Blood (chapter) 406
Darkness and rending of the temple veil 407
Beotherhood.
Atlanteans evolved cunning, we Aryans are evolving
reason, in future New Galileans will cultivate love. . . 311
One groupspirit controlled humanity during the earliest
epochs 348
That was composed of all the Creative Hierarchies 351
Jehovah segregated humanity into nations and races 352
Christ came to reunite them into a Brotherhood 352
Why Christ is the only Being who can do that 380
Christian Doctrines.
The Creation 317
The Fall 277, 278, 361
Salvation and Damnation 224, 229
The Immaculate Conception 378, 390
The Atonement 400
The Cleansing Blood 406
Forgiveness of Sin 91, 111, 373
The Trinity 87. 229, 253
Conscience.
Conscience is the fruitage of previous purgatorial
existences 120
How conscience battles with desire 89
Creator.
Nebular theory predicates a creator 32?
Creator of Universe a logical necessity 128
INDEX 547
PAGE
How we learn to become Creators. 128, 338
Man 's desire to create caused the Fall 361
Consciousness.
Consciousness of the four Kingdoms, with diagram 73, 74
Consciousness of animals described 83
Effect of the skeleton on consciousness 456
Consciousness of minerals and plants described 85
How soul-growth enlarges the consciousness 96
Evolution of consciousness, Ariadne's thread through
maze of ' ' Worlds, " " Periods, " " Globes, "etc 201
Why Pythagoras made knowledge of mathematics a pre-
requisite to occult teaching 203
Vehicles and consciousness of man in Saturn Period like
those of present mineral 212
Vehicles and consciousness plantlike in Sun Period 213
Vehicles and consciousness of man like the lower Animals
during the Moon Period 217
Tabular description of consciousness in past and future
Periods 421
Our present consciousness results from the war between
the desire body and the vital body 455
Involution : from devine All-consciousness to. human sclf-
consciousness 80, 216
Polarian Epoch; trance consciousness like Saturn, Hyper-
borean Epoch deep sleep like in Sun Period 263
Torture used in Lcmuria to waken consciousness to a
dreamy state 279
Our present waking consciousness dates from the middle
of Atlantis when ' ' mist ' ' cleared 300
How marriage in the family produced the tie of blood by
generating common consciousness 354, 397
How intertribal marriages has destroyed "second sight"
or clairvoyance 355
Internal and external skeleton as factors in consciousness. 456
The four causes of our materialistic ideas 359
How sin and its consequent pain has awakened and is
sharpening our consciousness 362
How our consciousness will bo exjKinded 417
The Consciousness of the Jupiter Period , 418
548 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
The Consciousness of the Ventis Period 419
The Consciousness of the Vulcan Period 421
Color.
Illustrative of the "Trinity" 253
Why changeable in animals at different seasons 37
Crime; crimes we ignorautly commit against the "lying 101
Cross.
The cross is symbolical of the life currents vitalizing tiic
bodies of plant, animal and man 85
Cross symbolical of man's past evolution, present consti-
tution and future development 516
CREATIVE HIERARCHIES AND OTHER LIFE WAVES.
The Supreme Being.
The Supreme Being is the architect of the whole Uni-
verse; vastly exalted above our solar God 179
The Supreme Being images the Universe prior to creation
and dissolves it when it has served its purpose 375
The WORD made flesh 181
God.
God is the Creator and sustainer of solar system 179
The logical 'necessity of a creator and sustainer of the
worlds 129, 323
God is an expression of the positive pole of the Universal
Spirit (matter is negative pole) 185
God is a composite Being 183, 253
The Sun is the visible symbol of God 181
The Father is highest Initiate of Saturn Period 376
The Son: Christ, is highest Initiate of Sun Period 376
The Holy Spirit (Jehovah) is highest Initiate of Moon
Period 376
Purpose of the Jehovistic Race religions 352, 433, 435
Purpose of the Christian religion 352, 433, 435
Purpose of the coming religion of the Father 435
The Seven Spirits Before the Throne.
Collectively they are God 252-3
Individually they are Regents of the planets 180
Christ.
Christ is highest Initiate of Sun Period 376
INDEX 549
PAGE
The Christ became Kegent of Earth at Golgotha 407
The Immaculate Conception 378
Why Christ used the dense and vital body of Jesus..l28, 378, 380
Why Christ is unique among all Beings, celestial or ter-
restrial, and alone able to reunite mankind 380, 382
Jesus ' body attuned to Christ vibrations 382
Atonement does not vitiate the law of Causation; nor
does iloctrine of remission of sins 373, 401
Salvation illustrated 402
Why Christ said ' ' not peace but a sword " 389
Why the death of Christ was violent 405
The wounds of Christ, of esoteric significance 406
How the sin of the world was taken away 408
The purpose of the Christian Religion 433, 435
Jehovah segregated mankind into nations and races.
Christ will reunite them in Brotherhooil 352
Tiie special mission of Christ 401, 405
Jehovah (Holy Spirit).
Prior to Jehovah's regime a common groupspirit ruled
mankind 351
Jehovah is highest Initiate of the Moon Periofl 376
He is leader of Angels and Regent of all moons, ours
included 333
Why some Archangels (tvho are sun spirits) help Jehovah,
the lunar Goil 404
Jehovaii built hard bony structure in early Lemuria. . 34G
He blew in the breath: ncphesh, and men became ncphcsh
chayim : breathing creatures 345
He separated the sexes 347
Jehovah and the Archangels divided mankind into nations
and races, appointing a Guardian Angel for each
Ego 347. 352
Jehovah and Archangels work in desirebody by "Law,"
fear of God is pitte<l against desire of fle.sh 395
Purpose of the Jehovistic Race? religions 433, 435
Why Race religions are insufficient to meet h'l'uan needs. 383
LOBDs OF Flame.
Are brilliantlv luminous; called " Thronej^" in Bible 206
550 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
They gave germ of dense body and awakened divine spirit
of man-in-tlie-inaking 207
Lords of Flame aided Virgin Spirits to penetrate first veil
of matter 216
They helped Lords of Wisdom reconstruct dense body. ... 211
Lords of Flame help link divine spirit and life spirit. . . . 212
They helped Lords of Individuality link divine spirit and
human spirit 216
Lords of Flame, Cherubim and Seraphim leave our system. 220
Cherubim.
Awaken life spirit of man-in-the-making 212
Aid spirit penetrate second veil of matter 216
Cherubim help Lords of Individuality link human spirit to
life spirit 215
Lords of Flame, Cherubim and Seraphim leave our evo-
lution 220
Why Cherubim and Seraphim are not mentioned in the
Creation story of Bible 326
Seraphim.
Awaken human spirit (the Ego) in man-in-the-making. .. . 215
They leave our evolution 326
Lords op Wisdom.
They had charge of material evolution in Sun Period,
they helped Lords of Flame reconstruct dense body. . . 211
They gave germ of vital body to man-in-the-making 211
They helped Lords of Flame link divine spirit to life spirit 214
Lords of Individuality help Lords of Wisdom reconstruct
dense body, giving germ of skeleton, muscle 214
Lords of Wisdom now in charge of divine spirit 220
Lords of Individuality.
They had charge of material evolution in Moon Period,
and helped reconstruct dense body 214
They gave germ of desire body 215
They have charge of life spirit now 220
Lords of Form.
They have charge of material evolution now 240
Also of human spirit, the Ego 220
They reconstruct dense body, giving germ of brain 239
Help Angels reconstruct vital body 240
INDEX 551
PAGE
Help man build dense body in Polarian Epoch 261
Vivified human spirit in many Moon Stragglers 266
Those stragglers remained mindless, however 266
Lords of Mind.
They were human in the Saturn period, are expert mind-
builders and work only with man 222, 243
They also help man build higher desire botly 265
I'he Father is highest Initiate among Lords of Min<l. . . . 376
Abchangels.
They were human in Sun Period, are expert builders in
desire bodies, work with animal and man 222, 349
The Son, Christ, is highest Initiate Archangel 376
Archangels work in lower part of desirebody 243
They helped man build his desirebody in Lemuria 265
During heavenlife they teach him to reconstruct the earth. 126
ANGELS.
They were human in Moon Period ; are expert builders of
vital body, work with plant, animal and man 222, 349
A Guardian Angel was appointed for each Ego 252
The Holy Spirit, Jehovah, is their highest Initiate 376
Angels and Lords of Form clothe man in vital body 263
The vital body is their normal vehicle, they are double
sexed and without brain 285
Angels directed man's propagation in harnumy with stars,
then parturition was painless 283
Lucifer Spirits.
They were stragglers of the life wave of Angels 286
They are called serpents 288
How and why they spoke to the woman 287, 361
Virgin Spirits (our human Life wave).
Whence we came and why pilgrimage through matter was
undertaken 87
Our varying grades of unconsciousness during Involution,
attainment of self-consciousness 189, 201
The descent of spirit marks the ascent of form and both
streams coalesce in the focusing mind 266
Their evolution depends upon adaptability 223
Their future development 417
552 ROSICRUCIAX COSMO CONCEPTION
PAOB
Stragglers and Newcomers.
Some of our life wave proved unadaptable in Saturn
Period, they formed dark spots on the luminous Sun
globe . . . . ' 225
More straggled in sixth revulutiun of Sun Period 225
Some Saturn stragglers Avere promoted in seventh revolu-
tion of the Sun Period 225
Some from the animal life wave straggled in Sun Period. . 225
List of classes at beginning of Moon Period 226
More spirits of our life wave straggled in fifth revolution
of the Moon Period. Cherubim promoted some 229
When there are no more stragglers a race dies 341
New Life Waves (behind the human spirits).
The present animals started evolution in Sun Period 224
The present plants started evolution in Moon Period 226
The minerals started in the Earth Period 230, 232
Group Spirits.
A guardian spirit governing a tribe of animals or plants
from without 72, 81
Prior to the advent of Jehovah humanity was governed
from tvithout by a common groupspirit 351
Jehovah and his Archangels are like groupspirits, for they
govern the nations 349
Group spirits evolve to family and Race spirits 82
Groupspirit of plant and oviperous animals withhold seed-
atom from seed and egg, pending favorable conditions 461
Groupspirit is " a jealous god'' like Jehovah; it abhors
and prevents intermarriage of species 353, 357
Instinct is suggestion of groupspirit responded to by
animal 78
Groupspirit suffers when an animal is hurt 78
Groupspirit is responsible for the similar traits, tastes
and appearance of the separate plants or animals in
its tribe 71
Groupspirit is responsible for the currents which flow in-
wards in coldblooded animals 69
Outgoing currents in the desirebodj* of animals are gen-
erated by them, not by groupspirit 69
INDEX 653
PAGE
Animal groupspirits work in the blood by means of the air
inspireil /S50
Difference between a groupspirit and a human Ego. .78, 82, 350
Diagram showing present location of groupspirits 74
LIFE WAVES.
(Which reach (he human sfa<ie in our system.)
Lords of Mind (started evolution before our scheme).
Became human in the Saturn Period, are expert mind-
builders, work only with man (who was mineral in
Saturn Period) 222, 427
The Father is their highest Initiate 376
They became Creative Intelligences in Earth Period.... 243
Archangels (started prior to our scheme).
Became human in the Sun Period, are expert builders of
coarse desirestuff, work principally with animals
(which were mineral in Sun Period), but aiso with
man 222, 349, 427
The Son (Christ) is their highest Initiate 376
They become Creative Intelligences in Ju[iiter Period. . . .
Angels (started prior to our evolution).
Became human in Moon Period, are expert builders of
Ether. Work specially with plants (which were
mineral in Moon Period) 222,349.427
Their highest Initiate is Jehovah, the Holy Siiirit 376
They become Creative Intelligences in Venus Period
Virgin Spirits (our present humaniti/).
Started evolution as mineral in Saturn Perio<l 205
Became human in the Earth Period. We are now becom-
ing expert builders of Form from chemical mineral
substance 426
In the Jupiter Periods we shall vitalize the forms 428
In the Venus Period we shall give them feeling 428
In the Vulcan Period we shall become Creative Intelli-
gences and give the forms a mind 428
Animals started evolution in Sun Period, become human in
Jupiter Period 70, 224
Plants started evolution in Moon Period, become human in
Venus Period 226
554 ROSICBUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Minerals started evolution in Earth Period, become human in
Vulcan Period 230, 232
Desire.
Desire for prolonged earth-life makes the spirit earth-
bound amid unpleasant surroundings 103
How conscience battles with desire 89
Archetypes of desires, feelings and emotions 50
Disease.
Why complications set In when a person is sick 64
Why pain is felt in a limb subsequent to the time of
amputation 64
A spiritual cause of paralysis 63
A spiritual cause of consumption and rachitis 113
Haemolysis (destruction of blood corpuscles; see Human
Organism).
Nostalgia (homesickness) ; how engendered by the Eace
Spirit 351
Dreams.
The cause of dreams, and why mostly confused 94
Dreamlike internal picture consciousness of animals
rational because engendered by groupspirit 217
Drunkard ; how purged in Purgatory 105
Drowning; why drowning persons see past life in a flash. ... 61
Elements.
In Saturn Period there was only one element : heat —
incipient fire 234
In Sun Period there was fire and air; in Moon Period fire,
air, water. Here we have four elements 234
A new element will be added in the Jupiter Period 234
Elementals or naturespirits; help build our bodies 126
Evil ; how it grows and is destroyed 42-43
Faith.
Childlike faith and scepticism compared 6
Feeling.
Distinct from mere response to impacts 32
A separate desirebody necessary to true feeling 57
Interest and Indifference ; the twin feelings which move
the world 45
Remorse 47
INDEX 555
PAGE
Archetypes of feeling 50
Effect of sharp purgatorial pain on future lives 109
Mathematic study raises us above feelings 203
Pineal gland once an organ of feeling 262
Feeling was awakened by torture in Lemuria 279
Rhmoahals developed finer feelings: joy and sorrow, pleas-
ure and pain, etc 294
Tlavatlis developed ambition 295
Freewill and Destiny.
Relative freewill of mineral, plant, animal and man eom-
pared S3-
All evil acts in life at least are voluntary 110
Choice regarding place of Rebirth 129. 136
Epigenesis more than choice of action 135
Original Semites the first to be given freewill and made
responsible to law of consequence 301
Causes when ripened to maturity become destiny 136
Mature destiny cannot be escaped (story) 161
The stars: the clock of Destiny 163
Poem on freewill and destiny 163
Freewill bought at cost of pain and death 288, 363
Forgiveness of Sin.
Forgiveness and the subconscious mind 91
How it shortens or eliminates Purgatory Ill
The doctrines of Forgiveness and Atonement do not
vitiate, but complement the Law of Causation 373
Fertilization.
Depends upon presence of etheric matrix of body being
present in mother's womb and on seedatom 137,461
Seedatom withheld by groupspirit wlion animals mate
outside their species 352
Food.
Why one man 's meat is another 's poison 84
Food as a factor in evolution 165
The science of nutrition (chapter) 441
Why we do not take life when eating plantseed or eggs. . 461
Tlie law of assimilation (chapter) 457
Forces.
Laws of Nature not blind, but Great Intelligences 49
55G EOSICEUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Archetypal Forces and the inception of form 51
Force is spirit not yet crystallized to matter 120, 247
Relation of force and matter illustrated 121
Attraction and Repulsion; the twin forces, and liow they
operate 46
The Bible on ' ' dual creative energy " 324
Form.
All forms are built of one basic substance 31
Forms are crystallized space; at death it dissolves to
spirit 249, 186
Reflation of Life, Form and Consciousness 223
Reason for multiplicity of forms and their decay 31
All form devoid of true feeling 31
Wonderful metamorphoses of forms in Desire world 41
Archetypes of form 50
Archetypes build forms by sound 123
Sound the builder of climate, flora and fauna 125
Form and life merge into one spirit in Chaos; seedatoms
of worldglobes alone remain intact 247
Life may, and does, exist independently of concrete form. 248
Forms are always built to suit conditions 255
Man 's past, present and future form 257
How pineal gland preserved man's form from destruc-
tion by fire in Lemuria 262
Why form evolves to a certain point ; then degenerates
and dies 289, 341, 343
Jehovah, the builder of form and giver of children. . .334,348
Bible story of Creation refers to form : Life is uncreate 332, 344
Life has no origin: Forms have 504
Genius.
Genius and epigenesis 185
A genius builds better organism from parental material
than others 138
Heredity cannot account for genius 155
Why genius is ahead of its time 161
Good; how assimilated by the spirit 21, 47, 96, 123, 417
Hypnotism.
How hypnotism and anaesthetics affect vital body 62
INDEX 557
HUMANITY (topical).
PAGE
Humanity compareil with mineral, plant and animal. ... 57
Origin of our faculties: sense perception, locomotion ami
thought 59
Man is the inverted plant 86
Seven human principles as correlated to five worlds 88
Man is a 3-fold spirit having a mind by which he governs
a 3-fold body and transmutes it to soul 95
Man builds in heaven the body he uses on earth 128
In Hyperborean Epoch we had both lunar and solar
sexforce, hence we were hermaphrodites 268
Why nations rise and fall 289
Originally humanity were governed by one common group-
spirit 351
Later Jehovah segregated them into nations 352
Original Semites first to be given freewill and made
responsible to the law of consequence 301
Mission of Christ to reunite the races as Brothers 352
The four steps and stages in Eeligion 302
The sixteen paths to destruction -71, 306
The ' ' missing link " 341
The origin of Life 504
Man.
Differently educated from women in Lemuria 279
Man possesses solar sexforce expressing " Will" 267
Spermatozoa an expression of concentrated will 284
Woman.
Why subject to ])eriodical fiow and tears 60
Why more intuitive than man 92
Woman has lunar sexforce which expresses itself spir-
itually as * ' Imagination " 267
How woman was educated in Lemuria 279
Woman developed memory before man 280
Why parturition became painful 283
Imagination builds the foetus 284
How and why Lucifer spoke to the woman 361
Children.
Childlike faith compared to scepticism 6
Childlife in the first heaven 117
558 KOSICKUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Birth of a child only commenceil with the delivery of the
dense body 139
Children are clairvoyant and have invisible playmates. .. . 140
Do not manufacture individual blood in early years 143
Birth of the vital body produces growth 141
Why one who has died as a child will be apt to remember
that life in its next embodiment 172
Education of children in Lemuria 279, 361
Education of children in early Atlantis " 296
Children are clairvoyant while innocent 281
Jehovah, the Regent of the Moon, is the builder of
"form' ' and hence the giver of children 334
HUMAN ORGANISM (topical).
Dense Body.
A dense body necessary to live in the Physical World .... 57
What determines shape of dense body 60
Why the dense body is our most valuable instrument .... 76
Dense body abandoned at death 97
How premature loss of dense body causes suffering to
suicide 104
Archetype of dense body built by us in heaven 126
Birth of dense body 139
Germinally started in Saturn Period with incipient sense
organs 206
Reconstructed in Sun Period. Germination of alimentary
canal and glands commenced 211
Reconstructed in Moon Period. Skeleton, cartilage, muscle
and nerves begin to form 214
Reconstructed in Earth Period. Then brain and voluntary
nerves began to form 236, 239
Wonderful mechanism of dense body 237
Line of future improvements 262
"Point" in forehead not concentric with the correspond-
ing "point" in vital body in Atlantis 293
When those points came into correspondence clairvoyance
was lost 294
The keynote of the dense body 369
INDEX 559
PAGE
How connection between dense and vital bodies has be-
come relaxed since Golgotha 482
Blood.
How warm and coldblooded animals are produced. ....... 37
Difference of constitution of desirebody in cold and warm-
blooded animals 69
Bed blood requisite to a separate desirebody 69
In our animal stage we had no red blood 69
Incipient blood currents started in Moon Period 218
Before the Ego can become an indwelling spirit it must
have body with warm blood and upright larynx. . .86, 286
The blood is the direct vehicle of the Ego 91,238,350
The blood is the carrier of feelings and emotions 91
Children do not manufacture individual blood 143
Effects upon Ego of high and low temperature 144
Constancy of blood temperature more marked after
21st year 145
Mars, iron, warm blood and individuality 268, 274
Why Mars prevented evolution of warm blood in the first
three and one-half Earth-revolutions 274
The soul of all flesh is in the blood 350
Why marriage ' ' in the clan ' ' gives second sight 353, 397
Why mixing blood of one family by marriage with another
family kills clairvoyance 355
The bloo<l ; the highest expression of vital body 397
Menstruation and tears 60
In each cycle the blood carries a picture of the outside
world to seedatom in heart 92, 398
Haemolysis (dentruciion of blood).
Haemolysis and death results when blood of higher animal
is injected in lower 355
Mating of different species causes partial haemolysis with
loss of propagating faculty 357
International marriages produce haemolysis which kills
second sight enjoyed by marrying in the clan 358
Ear.
The semicircular canals of the oar. music and logic 126
Ear was started in Saturn Period 206
Eye; the eye was built by light 18, 276
5G0 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
The so-called ' ' third eye ' ' was orgau of feeling 262
Liver.
Desirebody rooted in liver 68
Groupspirit directs currents inwards in cold-blooded ani-
mals. Currents icell out in mammals 69
Liver and ' ' liver " 69
Lungs; the place of ingress for the groupspirit 345, 348, 350
Spleen.
Spleen is root of vital body, it specializes solar energy. . . 63
How white corpuscles are made 455
Glands.
Glands and alimentary canal started in Sun Period 211
Pineal Gland was once the localized seat of feeling 262
Glands are expressions of the vital body 455
Thymus Gland; supplies parental blood to child in infancy
and early childhood 143
Pituitary Body; latent in most people, it is an organ of
clairvoyance 473
Pineal Gland.
Once a localized organ of feeling 262
Now an organ of clairvoyance when developed 473
Heart.
Head and heart figuratively at war 1 7, 393
Silver Cord fastened to left ventricle of heart by the
seedatom 98
Eupture of silver cord causes lieart to stop 98
Heart, though an involuntary muscle, is cross-striped like
a voluntary muscle 396
How the crossstripes may be developed and the heart
control body 399
Hofl heart, larynx and spinal cord become path of sex-
currents 477
Muscles.
How manipulated by thoughts of Ego 89
The higher part of desirebody built the voluntary nervous
system 394
Voluntary muscles striped lengthwise and crosswise ;
involuntary muscles striped lengthwise only 396
Muscles the particular stronghold of desirebody 455
INDEX 561
PAGE
Nerves.
The cause of jiaralysis 63
Voluntary nerves started in Earth Period, sympathetic
system in Moon Period 239
Higher part of desirebody built voluntary nerves 394
Pneumogastric nerve, avenue of ingress of intuition or
' ' first impressions " 398
Pneumogastric nerve is avenue of egress for the seedatom
at death 97
Brain.
How the Ego manipulates tlie braincentors 89
Building of brain started in Lemuria 239
Built since separation of sexes 267
Half the sexforce diverted to build brain 269, 284
Cost of the faculty of thought 270
Lemurian girls first developed memory 280
Why Lucifer prompted Lemur lans to use the generative
force independent of the Angels 287
How Lucifer spoke to the woman 361
Larynx.
Why animals cannot speak 86
A horizontal larynx is under groupspirit 236
Larynx, the highest achievement of human Ego 236
Originally the larynx was part of the sexorgan 269
The larynx is sustained by sexforce 269, 284
The larynx will eventually supersede the sexorgans and
man will speak the (now lost) creative WORD. .364, 425
Larynx, heart and spinal cord, path of sexourrent in
Initiates 478
Sex.
Change of boy's voice at the time of puberty. Sex is
determined by forces active in Life Ether 36
Sex alternates in successive births 160
Will and Imagination are solar and lunar sexforces 267
When Earth was united with sun and moon in the
Hyperborean Epoch man was male-female 268-9
When Earth separated from sun and moon the sexes also
separated 268
562 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Sexforce built brain and larynx 2G9
When Angels regulated sexrelation in harmony with stars
parturition was painless 277
When Adam kneiv his wife indiscriminately, "their eyes
were opened ; ' ' then pain and death began 278, 283
Spermatozoa an expression of male sexforce : Will. Imagi-
nation, the female sexforce, builds foetus 284
All retain one-half of sexforce to build brain, nervous
system and larynx 284
Selfish motive in sex and thought activities 285
Lucifer spirits prompted man to abuse of sex 287
Adam 's " rib " and ' ' side " 347
The beginning and the end of sex 364
Skeleton.
Skeleton soft as cartilage till crystallized in early Le-
muria by Jehovah's lunar forces 275, 346
Comparison of the effect of external and internal skel-
etons on consciousness 456
Hardening of bones contributed to divide sexes 275
Skeleton the particular stronghold of divine spirit 397
Ribs.
Young children do not create blood from bones 143
Adam's "rib" 347
Digestion.
Digestion accomplished through the aid of forces in the
chemical ether 35, 94, 143
Manufacture and selection of gastric juices 263
Digestion commenced in Hyperborean Epoch by osmosis. . 263
Alimentary canal started in Sun Period 211
How digestion is affected by temper 456
The law of assimilation (chapter) 457
Excretion ; a selective elimination of waste 35
Seedatom.
The seedatoms have formed part of all vehicles ever used
by one particular Ego 97
Seedatom of dense body leaves heart just after last
breath, bearing imprint of panorama of life 97
Seedatom of dense body fastens silver cord to heart.... 98
INDEX . 5G3
PAGE
Seedatom of vital body extracted at second rupture of
silver cord 103
Seedatom of desirebody: seat of conscience. It is ex-
tracted ere spirit leaves desirebody to disintegrate. . . 120
How seedatom of mind gathers materials for the mind of
a new life prior to birth 133
How seedatom of desirebody gathers desirestuff for a
new desirebody 134
How seedatom of vital body gathers new ether 134
How the etheric mold of the coming dense body is placed
in womb of mother by the Lords of Destiny 137
Seedatom of dense body placed in semen of father 137
Seedatoms of World-globes alone persist in Chaos 247
Seedatoms of plant seed or eggs withheld by groupspirit
pending favorable conditions 461
Seedatoms of animals withheld by groupspirit to prevent
mating of hybrids or mismating 3.57
Outside world pictured upon seedatom in each cycle of
the blood 398
LIFE HERE AND HEREAFTER (topical).
Life in General.
The problem of life and death 19
The three solution.s oflfered 148
The four streams of life ensouling all form 31
Life alone can feel; form is dead and unfeeling 32
Life Ether: the avenue of propagation 36
Life Ether freed at age of 14 143
A separate vital body necessary to express life 57
The four Kingdoms of life symbolized in the cross 85
The value of a life largely dependent upon conditions at
death 101
Duration of life in Purgatory 107
Life in the First Heaven 113
Life in the Second Heaven 121
Life in the Third Heaven 129
The purpose of life 131
Life a school of experience 132
564 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
The life ensouling man entered evolution in the Saturn
Period 205
The life ensouling the linimals entered evolution in the
Sun Period 224
The life ensouling the plants entered evolution in the
Moon Period 226
The life ensouling the mineral entered evolution in the
Earth Period 232
The relation of Life, Form and Consciousness 80, 223
Life and form merge in Chaos, leaving only seedatoms of
World-globes intact 247
Life may, and does, exist in forms intangible to us 248
Life always builds forms to suit conditions 256
Life uncreate, the importance of the word nephesh 332
First Creation story of Bible deals with form, the second
with the ensouling life: nephesh 344
Nephesh chayim: breathing creatures; not living souls.. 345
Life did not originate anywhere, at any time: it is 584
Taking life for food 460
Why plant seed and eggs contain no life 461
Conception.
Conception results only when etheric mold of a body and
the seedatom are present 137
Ego enters mother's womb 18 days after conception.... 138
Birth.
Birth is the result of Ego's desire for experience 129
Birthplace usually chosen by Ego 136
Birth not accomplished when dense body is delivered.... 139
Birth of vital body and growth 141
Birth of desire body and puberty 142
Birth of the mind and maturity 143
Death.
The problem of Life and Death 19
How death is robbed of its terror 27
Death by ilrowning or freezing 61
Death by suicide and its dreadful consequences 104
Death by accident or on the battlefield 118
The importance of peaceful surroundings at death 109
INDEX 565
PAGE
One of the main causes of infant mortality 118
People who have died sometimes ignorant of that fact. . . . 121
Death did not exist till latter part of Lemuria 107, 278
Premature cremation causes departing si)irit pain 98
The oftener we die, the better we shall live 244, 363
Death of form gives spirit scope for advancement 249
Our liberty purchased at cost of death and pain 363
Degeneracy and death of races and nations 289
Decay; an activity of the chemical forces in matter 31
Vital and dense bodies disintegrate simultaneously 102
Cremation.
Premature incineration pains departing Spirit 98
Silver Cord.
Silver Cord fastened in left ventricle of heart by seed-
atom. Rupture there stops heart 98
Silver Cord not broken in any case where resuscitation is
accomplished 102
Final rupture and its effect 102
Panorama of Life.
Panorama viewed through negative pole of Reflecting
Ether just subsequent to death. 91, 101
Panorama is of varying length — what terminates it 102
Panorama l)asis of pleasure anil pain beyond 108
How panorama may be eradicated by remission of sin. . . Ill
Contrast between panorama of a past life viewed after
death and a coming life seen prior to birth 130
The blood in each cycle through heart engraves panorama
on seedatom 398
Purgatory.
How and why suicide suffers for rash act 104
Why post-mortem existence is first purgative 104
How the miser is purged of avarice li)4
How drunkard is purged from his vice 10.5
How each act in life automatically produces its just re-
ward or retribution Ii17
Duration of life in Purgatory 107
How we may escape Purgatory Ill
56G EOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Children go through Purgatory to First Heaven at once. . 117
Conscience: the fruitage of Purgatory 119
Borderland; a pitiable state of existence between Heaven
and Purgatory, and who goes there 112
First Heaven.
A place of happiness, the measure determined by our own
previous benevolence expressed in Panorama 114
The ethics of true benevolence 115
Second Heaven.
This is the realm of tone 122
Assimilation of soulpower generated in past life 123
Preparation for new earth-life 124
Building new environment and new body 125, 128
Third Heaven.
Panorama of a new life as chosen by Ego 129
Ideas.
Sot ideas detrimental to investigation; great importance
of adaptability 5, 223
Immortality; why it would be most undesirable at present. . 363
Individuality.
Of man compared to animals 71
"I" consciousness of children and the thymus gland. . .. 143
Birth of Individuality (chapter) 266
Mars, iron, red blood and individuality 268, 274
Christ preached cultivation of Individuality 352
Information ; source of the author's information 8
Innocence, is not virtue 282
Imagination.
Imagination is the spiritual expression of the female,
lunar sexforce. (Will is male and solar) 267
Imagination the formative force in creation 324, 425
Instinct.
Instinct an expression of wisdom of groupspirit 78
Why man 's unwisdom is superior to infallible animal
instinct 79
Intuition.
What it is, and why most noticeable in women 92
INDEX 567
INITIATION AND ITS RESULTS (topical).
Initiation. page
Initiation described and defined 519
Enables man to build body consciously during antenatal
life 128, 138
Value of mathematics in process of attainment 203
Lemurian kings initiated by Lords of Mercury 272-3
Initiation will enable man to leave body at will 274
Lemurian initiators taught art and science 28 1
Human Initiates have had entire charge of our evolution
since the beginning of the Aryan Epoch 304
At end of Aryan Epoch highest Initiate will appear pub-
licly as leader of those who want him 305
Jesus' body attuned to Christvibrations by initiation.... 382
Initiation under the (,'hrist-star 391
How to know an Initiate 68, 400
Initiation open to chosen few only, before Christ 404
Wliy it is now open to * ' whosoever will " 404, 482
The Seven Days of Creation and Initiation 412
How Initiation will expand our consciousness 417
Consciousness of the Jupiter Period 418
Consciousness of Venus Period 419
Spirals within spirals of attainment 420
Schematic list of Periods and consciousness 421
Why probation must precede Initiation 478, 519
Initiation of the Kose Cross 519
The necessity of training 25, 41, 480
The bridge to the unseen worlds 476
Mystery Schools; septenary division of.
The Rosicrucian method of preparation 439
Exercises.
Retrospection, a review of the day 's events Ill
Concentration; its similarity to, and its difference from
sleep 483
The best time to concentrate 485
Concentration (chapter) 486
Meditation (chapter) 489
Observation 492
Discrimination 493
568 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Contemplation (cliapter) 4il4
Adoration (chapter) 495
Clairvoyance.
Clairvoyance is a faculty immanent in ail 19
Value of testimony to superpliysical truths dairvoyantly
obtained 20
The necessity and the results of training 25,41,480
Animals are clairvoyant 77
Children are clairvoyant 140, 281
A positive method of attainment 203
"Second-Sight" produced by marriage in the clan or
family 354
How international marriages have destroyed this involun-
tary clairvoyance 355
Activity of pituitary body and pineal gland formerly pro-
duced involuntary clairvoyance 473
Ee-awakening of their vibratory powers will produce pos-
itive clairvoyance 477
Clairvoyants.
Why their observations differ 26
Difference in desirebody of trained and untrained clair-
voyant 67, 241
How anyone may distinguish a trained clairvoj-ant. . . .68, 400
The Lemurians were all clairvoyant but could not see
physically 281
INVOLUTION, EVOLUTION AND EPIGENESIS (topical).
Involution.
Involution illustrated 80
Involution is the period of unconscious development. .185, 201
Energy of Virgin Spirits turned inwards to build vehicles
of consciousness during Involution 189, 201
Descent of spirt marks ascent of form. Both streams
coalesce in the focusing mind 266
Involution, evolution and epigenesis chapter 336
Evolution.
Evolution commences at the coalition of spirit and body,
when self -consciousness is awakened 185, 202
INDEX 569
PAGE
Then "their eyes were opened," the creative energy
turned outwards and conquest of world begun. .81, 190,202
Salvation and damnation, the great importance of
adaptability 223
Evolution would have ceased if man had eaten of tree of
life 363
The next great division of the "sheep" and "goats".. 229
Wine as a factor in evolut ion 168, 359
Evolution is progression in three direetious 151
The end of human evolution 158
Our dense body is in fourth stage of evolution, vital body
in third, desirebody in second and the mind a mere
cloud 76
"Why races evolve to a certain point, then degenerate and
finally die 2S9, 341
How embryology confirms occult teaching 344
Brain evolved at cost of half our creative force, free-will
at cost of pain and death 363
Involution, Evolution and Epigenesis (chapter) 336
Epigenesis.
Man's own original creative activity 128, 135, 185
Chapter on Involution, Kvohition and Epigenesis. . .80, 81, 336
See definitions under diagram 367
Knowledge.
Knowledge a necessary prerequisite to judgment 7
Knowledge of clairvoyant dei>euds upon training. . .25, 41, 480
Why knowledge of Cosmogony is very important 191
How to obtain first-hand knowledge 21,97,111,430,528
Kingdoms of Life.
Comparing man to mineral, jdant and animal 56
Various constitution of vital body in plant, animal and
man 58
Divers constitution of desirebody in animal and man... 65, 235
The cross symbolical of the life currents pulsating in the
four kingdoms 85
Lamentations; their effect upon the dying ami dead 101, 118
Law of Causation.
Original Semites the first to be maile morally responsible
under law of causation 301
570 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Law of causation is the force impelling to rebirth 130
It brings each to birth at psychological moment when
stellar influences are most propitious 161
How and why the panoramas of life are produced 130
Causation automatically produces the appropriate suffer-
ing needed to purge each from his vice 106
Mature destiny and inexorable fate 136, 161
Law of Causation not vitiated, but complemented, by
doctrines of Forgiveness of Sin and Atone-
ment 91,222,373,402
The binding effect of action and method of liberation. . . . 202
Causation superseded by epigenesis 135
Causation, and not heredity, accounts for our character-
istics and idiosyncracies 157
Law of Rebirth.
Rebirth not to be confused with doctrine of transmigration 157
Rebirth a Christian doctrine 164
Why this teaching has been temporarily suppresse<l 167
The purpose of Rebirth 130
The necessity of Rebirth 132, 137
Rebirth and freewill 129
Panorama of future life 130
The method of re-embodiment 133
Rebirth in consonance with law of evolution 151
Rebirth in consonance with law of periodicity 152
Rebirth in consonance with ethical requirements 153
All may know at first hand this truth 147
Interval between births measured by the sun 159
Intelligent administration and exceptions 161
Earth and other worlds also subject to this law 190, 412
MAN 'S INA^TSIBLE VEHICLES (topical).
Vital Body.
Germinated as a thoughtform in Sun period given to man
in the making by Lords of Wisdom 210
Reconstructed in Moon Period by Lords of Individuality
and Lords of Wisdom 215
INDEX 571
PAGE
Keconstructed in Earth Period by Angels and Lonls of
Form 240
They later, in Hyperborean Epoch, clothe man in the
making with an improved vital body 263
Vital body is in its third stage of evolution To, 76
It is rooted in the spleen. Through that organ the vital
body specializes solar energy 63, 68
The vital body is built of "points" which penetrate the
dense atoms and raise their vibrations 61
The Recording Angels direct its construction at present so
that man may reap what he sows 135
A separate vital body is necessary to growth and assimila-
tion 57, 58
It serves to give shape to the dense body during antenatal
life 60, 137
Vital body is born at 7th year; causing growth 141
Under normal conditions it remains imbedded in dense
body from birth to death 61
The chemical, life, light and reflecting ethers in vital body
are ripened successively 143
The vital body is of opposite sex or polarity to the dense
body 61
Lemurian girls developed memory first on account of
having a positive vital body 2S0
The blood and glands are its particular expression. . . .397, 455
The positive vital body of woman gives intuition, also
causing periodical flow and tears 60
The blood absorbs from inspired air i>anorama of life
engraves it on scedatom and vital body 91, 397,398
At death vital body is withdrawn and panorama of past
life extracted 97, 102
When seedatom is withdrawn vital body gravitates back
to dense body and decays simultaneously with
that 102, 103
Our waking consciousness results from w;»r between de-
sirebody and vital body 455
Collapse of the vital body is cause of sleep 93
In health surplus of vitality is radiated as X-rays; they
expel deleterious microbes from system 63
572 BOSICKUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
These radiations are weak in sickness, hence disease germs
may easily enter and cause complications 63
Why pain is felt in a limb subsequent to amputation. ... 64
The more lax the connection between the dense and vital
bodies, the more sensitive we become to superphysical
vibrations 241
The dosirebody is improved by law; the vital body by
altruism, developed in higher life 404
Initiation before Christ was therefore reserved to a
chosen few 404, 405
Since vital body was partially freed at Golgotha, initiation
is open to ' ' whosoever will " 482
Initiation separates the four ethers of vital body so that
two may be extracted at will and used in "soul-
flights" through inner worlds 482
The efi'ect of prayer upon the vital body 434, 463
The specific method of separating the ethers. .91, 111, 483, 528
The vital body will be our densest vehicle in the Jupiter
period; it will contain essence of dense body. .240, 242, 422
Its essence: the intellectual soul, will be absorbed by the
life spirit in the Venus period 426
The vital bodies of plant and animal are differently con-
stituted from the human vehicle 58, 59
Among animals it is not concentric with the dense boily
except in prodigies 77
Desirebody.
Given in the Moon Period ty Lords of Individuality 215
It is now in second stage of its evolution 76
In latter part of Lemurian and early part of Atlantis
some desirebodies divided into higher and lower parts
thus they became fit to harbor a human Ego. . . .235, 395
These dense bodies assumed an upright walk which
emancipated them from rule of groupspirit 86, 236
Desirebody of man has now incipient sense centers 67
The Lords of Mind linked mind to higher part of desire-
body and implanted separate selfhood 243
The undivided desirebodies crystallized their dense ve-
hicles which have degenerated to anthropoids. . . .236, 243
INDEX 573
PAGE
The Archangels work in those, also in the lower part of
the human desirebody, giving passion 236, 243
Desirebodies of animals are not concentric with dense
body and otherwise differently constituted 6;", 77
Only those bodies which have red blood and a liver can
have a separate desirebody 69
In coldblooded animals groupspirit forces currents of de-
sire inivards through liver 69
The separate spirit which dwells in warm red blood forces
its desire currents outwards through liver 69
Thus the liver is the root of the desirebody 68
The desirebody has its particular field of operation in
the voluntary nerves and muscles 455
Its operations in the spleen produce white bloodcor-
puscles 435
Material for new desirebody is gathered by Ego prior to
each birth 134
It is born at 14 when the life ether of the vital body is
ripe and the child becomes adolescent 142, 143
The constant war between desirebody and vital body pro-
duces our waking consciousness 455
Desirebody is temporarily withdrawn during sleep 93
It is permanently extracted at death 97
During life it is ovoid, but takes shape of dense body at
death, thus the man appears as before 66
Desirebody of suicide feels hollowed out while archetype
of his dense body persists; he suffers pain like in-
tense hunger 104
Panorama of life etched on desirebo<ly forms basis of
post mortem existence. Importance of deep etching
and how to assure that end 109
Process of purgation and extraction of conscience. . . .105, 108
Dissolution of desirebody when seed atom is taken 120
Desirebodies of children wlio die do not dissolve 117
The desirebody will be perfected 'n the Venus Period
and compounded with essence of dense and vital
bodies 4'2.S
Its essence, the Emotional Soul, will be absorbed by the
hi»TO«in cpirit in Vulcan Period 425
574 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Prayer for the spiritualization of the desirebody 464
Mind.
The necessity and purpose of mind 57, 75, 298
It is a focusing point like lens in stereopticon, valuable
when not subject to mental St. Vitus dance 89, 39H
Given by Lords of Mind in early Atlantis 222
Mind designed to give purpose to action, but became en-
meshed in desirebody originating cunning 298
Then Eace religions were given to cow desire and free
mind 395
Original Semites, the progenitors of Aryan Eaces first to
evolve thought and reason 299
The Jews, a crossbreed of Original Semites, (the soiis of
God) and other Atlantean races, (the daughters of
men), still retain cunning , . . 310
How mindstuff for new mind is gathered prior to each
birth 133
It assumes shape of a large bell 134
Mind is born at 21 when man reaches "majoritv" 142
The veil of Isis, the sheath of mind, which hides the Ego
from intrusion 293
What impels thought 285
Conscious, subconscious and superconscious mind. . .90, 92, 397
The mind is temporarily withdrawn during sleep 93
It is permanently extracted from dense body at death. ... 97
Why the mind of children which die, persist in their
next life 117
The mind dissolved when Ego ascends to third Heaven. . . 129
The present war between heart and mind 17
The effects of open mind compared with scepticism 7
Valuable training for the mind 202
Prayer for spiritualizing the mind 464
The mind is now in its mineral stage, dead, hence we
work with dead chemical mineral substances. .298, 426, 428
In the Jupiter Period the mind will become alive. Then
we shall work with living plants 298, 427, 428
In Venus Period the mind will acquire feeling. Then
we shall Mork with living, feeling animals 428
INDEX 575
PAGE
In Vulcan Period the mind will become creative and cap-
able of propagating itself. Then we shall give our
creatures a mind and make them human 428
How animals think though lacking mind 70
What Instinct really is 78
Ego. (See Human Spirit.)
The Ego is a Virgin Spirit involved in a threefold veil
of matter which obliterates its original divine con-
sciousness and engenders the illusion of a separate
self 216
During Involution it brooded unconsciously over the
evolving form, separate and apart therefrom 235
In later Lemuria desirebody divided and dense body as-
sumed upright walk. Then Ego commenced to
enter 236, 394
It did not become fully indwelling until the last third of
Atlantis 294
Now the Ego is entirely in physical world while it lives
its earth life 71, 77, 95
The seven human principles 88
Mars polarized the iron until Atlantis so that warm blood
could not be generated. Thus the Ego was pre-
vented from entering the form till it was ripe 268
The blood is the vantage ground of the Ego S.IO
But it must be of right temperature 144
The Ego is born from time to time to gather experience. . 129
In heaven it assimilates experiences of previous lives. .135, 138
It also chooses its coming environment 129, 136
While in heaven it builds that environment and arche-
types of the bodies it uses on earth 128
It gathers the materials for its new vehicles during its
descent to rebirth 133
Recording Angels place matrix of its coming body in
womb of mother and seedatom in semen of father. . . 135
Ego enters womb 18-21 days after conception 138
Ego cannot generate blood from unripe childbody, hence
thymus gland gives a supply of parental blood till the
"I" consciousness comes at puberty 143
How the Race Spirit held Ego in bondage 350
578 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAOK
Memory op Nature.
There is a picture in the reflecting ether, in the Region
of Archetypal Forces and the World of Life Spirit. . 38
Menstruation.
Menstruation and tears caused by positive vital body of
woman 60
Microbes.
How microbes are expelled from system by N-rays 63
Mineral.
Entered evolution here in Earth Period 232
Mineral has a consciousness similar to that of the human
body when in deepest trance 85
All forms have been built from chemical mineral sub-
stance of the earth 30,31
All forms finally degenerate back to mineral 343
Comparison of mineral and man 56
Why it is incapable of growth, motion and thought 58
Why it is unfeeling, though it responds to impacts 31
The mineral groupspirit is located in the Region of ab-
stract Thought 85
Missionaries.
Needed at home more than abroad 163
Why foreign missions are a mistaken effort 308
Music.
Music of the spheres a fact in nature 119
The Great Silence; the prelude to the celestial harmony
of Appollos seven-stringed Lyre 122
The power of rythmic vibration; supercilious incredulity
concerning the fall of Jericho's walls gratuitous 122
Heaven the realm of tone and sound flows through Arche-
types and builds form 123, 124
The keynote of the body 369
The semicircular canals of the ear and music 126
Nebular Theory.
Predicates and requires a creator and sustainer of the
Universe 323
N-RAYS. the invisible radiations of the vital body, expel mi-
crobes from system 63
INDEX 679
PAGE
New Jerusalem ; an imitation is found in first heaven built
by thoughts on the subject 116
Osmosis.
A selective filtration of fluids through tissue of body. ... 35
Man's first method of obtaining nourishment 263
Pain.
A blessing in disguise (illustration) 131
Torture used in Lemuria to waken consciousness 279
How pain has enlarged our consciousness 362
Patriotism.
Danger of patriotism when carried to extremes 307, 312
Patriotism breaking down before international mar-
riages 355
Philosophers ' Stone.
As manufactured by nature, often handled by people. . . 438
Pilgrimage Through Matter.
Its beginning, its end and why undertaken 87
What will be the fruitage 429
Prayer.
The Lord 's prayer 435, 462
Unselfish prayers for spiritual achievement spiritualize
vital body. "Why we should pray ' ' without ceas-
ing" 434, 463
Plants.
The present plants started their evolution as minerals of
the Moon Period, tliey become human in the Venus
Period 226
Their consciousness is like ours in deep sleep 85
The Angels have particular charge over the plants 222
The groupspirits of plants are in the Region of Concrete
Thouglit 74. 85
Comparison of a plant and man: the inverted plant. . . .57, 86
Why incapable of thought and motion 58, 69
How the sap is caused to circulate and deposit color. ... 37
The Earth Spirit feels pain when plants are pulled out
by roots 65
Seedatom of plants withheld by groupspirit pending
favorable conditions for growth 461
578 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Memory of Nature.
There is a picture in the reflecting ether, in the Region
of Archetypal Forces and the World of Life Spirit. . 38
Menstruation.
Menstruation and tears caused by positive vital body of
woman 60
Microbes.
How microbes are expelled from system by N-rays 63
Mineral.
Entered evolution here in Earth Period 232
Mineral has a consciousness similar to that of the human
body when in deepest trance 85
All forms have been built from chemical mineral sub-
stance of the earth 30, 31
All forms finally degenerate back to mineral 343
Comparison of mineral and man 56
Why it is incapable of growth, motion and thought 58
Why it is unfeeling, though it responds to impacts 31
The mineral groupspirit is located in the Region of ab-
stract Thought 85
Missionaries.
Needed at home more than abroad 163
Why foreign missions are a mistaken effort 308
Music.
Music of the spheres a fact in nature 119
The Great Silence; the prelude to the celestial liannony
of AppoUos seven-stringed Lyre 122
The power of rythmic vibration; supercilious incredulity
concerning the fall of Jericho's walls gratuitous 122
Heaven the realm of tone and sound flows through Arche-
types and builds form 123, 124
The keynote of the body 369
The semicircular canals of the ear and music 126
Nebular Theory.
Predicates and requires a creator and sustainer of the
Universe 323
N-rays. the invisible radiations of the vital body, expel mi-
crobes from system 63
INDEX 579
PAGE
New Jerusalem; an imitation is found in first heaven built
bv thoughts on the subject 116
Osmosis.
A selective filtration of fluids through tissue of body. ... 35
Man's first method of obtaining nourishment 263
Pain.
A blessing in disguise (illustration) 131
Torture used in Lemuria to waken consciousness 279
How pain has enlarged our consciousness 362
Patriotism.
Danger of patriotism when carried to extremes 307, 312
Patriotism breaking down before international mar-
riages 355
Philosophers' Stone.
As manufactured by nature, often bandied by people. . . 438
Pilgrimage Through Matter.
Its beginning, its end and why undertaken 87
\Miat will be the fruitage 429
Prayer.
The Lord 's prayer 435, 462
Unselfish prayers for spiritual achievement spiritualize
vital body. Why we should pray "without ceas-
ing" 434, 463
Plants.
The present plants started their evolution as minerals of
the Moon Period, they become human in the Venus
Period 226
Their consciousness is like ours in deep sleep 85
The Angels have particular charge over the plants 222
The groupspirits of plants are in the Region of Concrete
Thought 74, 85
Comparison of a plant and man: the inverted plant. . . .57, 86
Why incapable of thought and motion 58, 69
How the sap is caused to circulate and deposit color. ... 37
The Earth Spirit feels pain when plants are pulled out
by roots 65
Seedatom of plants withheld by groupspirit pending
favorable conditions for growth 461
580 EOSICKUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
Precession of the Equinox. page
Governs the frequency of rebirth 159
Poems.
Sir Launfal 's A'ision (the ethics of giving) 115
Kaphael's Song (from Faust; in re music of spheres). . . 119
The Chambered Nautilus (progression of the soul) 159
Fate and Freew ill 163
The oftener we die, the better we live 249
The Christ within 389
Who is the Grail 389
Eeason.
First developed by the Original Semites; the progenitors
of the Aryan Races 299
Cunning, the Atlantean characteristic of the Jew 309
Eeason to be superseded by Love in New Galilee 311
Appeal to students ' reason 9
Eosicrucian teachings endeavor to satisfy reason 439
Eecording Angels.
Mold the vital body; impress panorama of coming life
thereon and place it in womb of mother 135
They bring each being to birth at the auspicious moment
when the stellar influences will give it conditions re-
quisite to its next step in unf oldment 161
They also force the expiation of mature destiny 136, 161
Eeligion.
The evolution of Eeligion (chapter) 367
Why different Eeligions are necessary to different people. 371
The four steps in Eeligion through fear, avarice, love
and duty 303
Mistake of seeking a foreign religion 308
Why the Bible, to be adequate to the needs of the West-
ern World, must contain both the Jewish religion of
the old Testament and the Christian religion of tiie
New 308, 314, 315
Paul asserts there is an allegorical meaning to the Bible
(yet it is only to be interpreted by who can see — II
Pet: 1.20). Both Paul and Christ gave an esoteric
teaching to ' ' the few " 319
Why earlier Eeligions taught the doctrine of Eebirth and
Christianity does not specially feature it 167
INDEX 581
PAGE
The purpose of Jehovistic Kace religions is to curb the
desirenature that the intellect may gain scope. 334, 395, 433
The purpose of the Christian Religion is to spiritualize
the vital body by love and prayer 433, 435, 463
The Religion of the Father will spiritualize the dense body
and restore Unity 435, 436
ROSICRUCIANS.
One of the seven schools of the lesser Mysteries 438
Christian Rosenkreuz and the Philosopher's Stone 515
Initiation, the Order of the Rose Cross and the Rosierucian
Fellowship 519
Salvation.
The theological plan of salvation 150
The evolutionary plan of salvation 224, 229, 307, 312
Salvation by Atonement and Forgiveness of Sin
91, 111, 373, 402
Sleep.
Caused by collapse of vital body 93
Why sleep is restorative 93
Chemical Ether, the avenue of restorative forces 94
Similarity between sleep and death 102
Similarity between sleep and concentration 483
Preliminary work of aspirant in desire world during
sleep 484
Sense Perceptions.
Organs of sense, particularly the ear, started in the
Saturn Period 206
Sense perception depends upon the forces in the Light
Ether 36
Lemurians could hear and feel at birth, but their sight
came later 276
SOLAR SYSTEM.
The logical necessity of a Creative Ijitelligence 122. 129
The nebular theory requires a Creator and Sustainer of
the solar system 323
The Bible asserts that our system was forme<l from the
' ' everlasting essence ' ' : primordial matter 321
582 EOSICKUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
God is the Architect of our solar system 179
The Seven Spirits before the Throne, individually con-
sidered, are the Regents of the seven planets 180
Collectively, they are God 183, 253
The Sun.
The real sun is as invisible as the real man 258
How it is scientifically possible to have light before the
creation of the sun and moon 398
The sun is the visible symbol of God 181
Spiritual and physical rays of the sun 390
"Will is a solar force expressed in the male sex. Imagina-
tion is a female, lunar force 267
The solar force works in vital body, makes for life, the
lunar rays crystallize the dense body and cause
death 265
Prior to end of Hyperborean Epoch sun, moon and
earth were yet one and humanity were malefemale. . 268
Planets and Moons.
Spiritual reason for the formation of planets 218
The planets are the bodies of the Planetary Spirits which
direct their movements from the center 255, 256
Birth of Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter 258
Mars and its canals, the Earth, Venus and Mercury
259, 271, 272
The influence of Mars prevented the Ego from entering
the body before that was ripe 268
The influence of Mercury will help man free himself so
that he may leave body and re-enter it at will 273
The Lords of Venus as leaders of humanity 272
Why some planets have moons 259
Our moon, the abode of failures who crystallized 264
Crystallization of the matter which is eventually thrown
off as a planet commences at pole of the sun where
motion is slowest 263
The Earth was thus expelled from the sun in the end
of the Hyperborean Epoch 263
Then a part of the Earth crystallized too early and was
expelled in the beginning of the Lemurian Epoch;
that is the Moon 264
INDEX 583
PAGE
Neptune does not really belong to our solar system 200
(For proof of this assertion, see Simplified Scientific
Astrology, page 5.)
Future evolution of planets 256
Each planet has three worlds: the Physical World, the
Desire World and the World of Thouglit 53
Mars.
Our evolution on that part of the sun which now consti-
tutes the earth commenced after Mars had been ex-
pelled and become a separate planet 263
The influence of Mars on the indwelling spirit 268, 274
The Martian canals 259
Venus.
A number of Beings from Venus and Mercury were sent
to help nascent humanity in Lemur ia. They were
looked up to as messengers of the gods 271, 272
After gestatory period of Aryan Race they gave freewill
to the Original Semites 301
They then withdrew and left human Initiates to guide
their younger brothers 304
Mercury.
Lords of Mercury were the original Hierophants of the
Mjsteries. They initiated the most precocious among
mankind and made them kings (by grace of God) . . . 272
They first showed man how he may extricate himself at
will from dense body 274
Why quicksilver is fluidic and evaporates 274
The influence of Mercury will increase 275
Earth.
During the Polarian Epoch that whicli is now the eartli
and the moon was yet a part of the sun. Division
came in the end of the Hyperborean Epoch 263
The present Moon-beings crystallized part of the earth
and were expelled in beginning of Lemuria 264
Effect of the solar and lunar forces upon earth 265
Previous to advent of Jehovah, Earth and man were
under a groupsjiirit which worked from uithout 351
For ages prior to our era Christ worked upon earlli and
man from without 404
584 KOSICRUCIAN COSiMO CONCEPTION
PAGC
When liberated from Jesus' body at Golgotha the Christ
entereii the Earth and has since been the indwelling
Earthspirit, the Regent of our planet 407
The planetary Christ immured in the earth is a ray from
the Cosmic Christ in the sun, refracted into each
planet when ready for Brotherhood 408
The sacrifice on Golgotha was but the commencement of
a protracted period of suffering on part of the Christ,
^•ho is groaning and travailing waiting for the day of
liberation 408, 506
Earth Spirit feels when stone is broken or flower
plucked 65, 505
Inner constitution of the Earth and volcanic eruptions. .. 498
Stages of human development and various foods 165
The so-called "dead" transform the earth, its flora and
fauna 125
The keynote of the earth 123
The Bible agrees with occult teaching that man has
been on earth before 332
Sound.
The Word made flesh, the Creative Fiat, a rythmic sound
which built all things 181
The music of the spheres 119
The Great Silence, a gate to the realm of sound, the
Heavenworld 122
Sound, the builder of climate, flora and fauna 125
The ram's horn disrupting the walls of Jericho a scientific
possibility 122, 369
Sound, rhythm; incorporates the soul into the spirit and
amalgamates them 124
Soul.
The World-soul said by Plato to be crucified 85
Soul is the spiritualized product of the body 95
' ' The soul of all flesh is in the blood " 350
Definite method of accomplishing soulgrowth 95
Sound and the amalgamation of soul with spirit 124
Prior to entrance of indwelling Ego higher part of de-
sirebody was master, a sort of animal soul 394, 235
Theological doctrine of creation of soul 150
INDEX 585
PAGE
Soul of man and animal not weighed by doctors 99
Space is spirit not yet crystallized to form 249
Spirit.
Of man may be seen before birth and after death 19
It is clothed in various bodies 88
Mars prevented the human spirit, the Ego from immur-
ing itself in body before it was ripe 268
Effect of wine, the counterfeit spirit produced by decay,
upon the Ego. the spirit of life 168
Space is spirit not yet crystallized into form 247
The positive pole of spirit manifests as life galvanizing
the negative form into action 248
Matter.
Is negative spirit substance; crystallized space or
spirit 120, 187, 247
Relation of force and matter illustrated 121
The Seven Worlds are states of matter 29
All physical matter is homogeneous in the ultimate 31
Matter is devoid of true feeling 31
Ether is physical matter; the field of operation of force
which acts upon the gases, liquids and solids 30
Desirestuff is the matter of the Desireworld, which causes
feeling and compels motion 39
Mindstuff is the matter of the Region of Concrete thought
which we use to embody and concrete our ideas 30
The use of desirestuff in our thought-activity 89
The reason for the spirits pilgrimage through matter. ... 87
How its original divine All consciousness is obscured by
the three veils of matter 216
Spirit and matter merge in Chaos; only the seedatoms
of the World-globes persist 247
The Bible does not say the earth was created from
"nothing". It names a basic substance 322
How the homogeneous primordial matter is formed into
the several Worlds 375
Stories and Tllu.strations.
A sure method of attaining wisdom 21
586 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Clairvoyant sees worlds as invisible to most people as the
light and color we see is to. a blind man 24
The existence of Invisible Worlds, interpenetration of
Physical World (frostflower, freezing water) 27
Relative reality and permanency of visible and invisible
worlds shown by architects house 28
Tlie purpose of visible world as school of right thought il-
lustrated by Inventors machine 33
Necessity for occult training, babe and blind who has ac-
quired sight, must learn to see here 41
Always look for the good. Christ and dead dog 44
Three men and dog show operation of twin feelings and
twin forces of Desireworld 46
Sponge, sand and water to show interpenetration and ex-
tension of the three worlds of a planet 53
Telegraph system illustrating operation vital fluid 63
Man's dense body a concretion of his finer vehicdes as
snails house is crystallized snail 73
Illustration of difference between man with indwelling
Ego and animal with groupspirit 78
Musician's hand and gloves showing obscuration of con-
sciousness during involution 80
Entering house on sunny day and finding focus showing
purpose in evolution 81
Spirit buried in matter as seed in soil 87
Worldsoul symbolized in cross 87
Boston doctor weighing soul of animal and man 99
The young cling to life in body as tenaciously as seed
to pulp of unripe fruit, the aged die as easily as
seed falls from ripe fruit 103
Snail illustrating relation of force and matter 121
Heidelberg wall and the walls of Jericho 122
Spiritual causes produce physical effects; one man knock-
ing another down 125
Necessity of a Creator; box of type and chaos 129
Nebular theory requires Creator and Sustainer 323
Blessing of pain ; hand on hot stove 131
How seedatoms gather material like magnet 133
INDEX 587
PAGE
Heredity and individuality ; carpenter takes material from
certain pile, but builds as he will 138
Shape of body depends on etheric matrix like ice crystals
on lines of force in water 137
Impossibility of escape from mature destiny 161
"^ Story of a remembered past life 172
Activity of chaos illustrated 208
Color illustrating the divine and human principles 252
The personality, the reverse reflection of spirit as trees
reflected in pond 266
Vicarious Atonement 402
Value of a hard life 432
Initiation like pulling trigger of pistol 520
Tears; why women are more prone to emotion than men. ... 60
Temperament not inherited 138
Temptation ; purpose of temptation 110, 282
Tbansmigration.
A fallacy not to be confused with rebirth 157
Trance brings one in touch with subconscious mind 149
Thought.
Cost of the faculty of thought 270
Thought and the faculty of expression are the highest
human privileges 236
Cunning was developed in early Atlantis 309
Difficulty of transmuting cunning to reason 310
Thought first ileveloped by Original Semites who were
our progenitors 299, 309
What impels man to think 285
How an idea becomes a thought 88
How thoughts are generated, ensouled and projected 89
Thought impressed upon braincenters through Reflecting
Ethor 38, 89
TIow thoughts are impressed upon the conscious memory. . 90
How tlioughts are impressed upon the subconscious
memory; "like chickens coming home to roost'* 91
The effect of the twin forces and feelings on thought S9
Tiiought transmission ; how accomplished 90
Thought, the supreme reality 28
588 BOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
The World of Thought where thoughts are generated. .48, 88
The Physical World where we are schooled in tlie right
use of thought 33
The elevating influence of abstract thought 203
How animals think though lacking mind 70
Vesuvius eruptions the result of materialism SllT
Virtue.
Not synonymous with innocence; it predicates knowledge
and choice 282
Vital Force.
Solar energy specialized through spleen 63, 68
How used by Ego to operate muscles 89
How it expels deleterious microbes from system 63
How obstructed flow of vital force causes sleep 93
Vitality.
Archetypes of Vitality 50
War.
War between heart and mind 17, 384, 393
Effect of death on the battlefield 118
Not peace, but a sword 387
Wisdom.
Human wisdom contrasted with animal instinct 79, 84
Will.
Will is the spiritual expression of the positive, male and
solar sexforce. Imagination is feminine, negative and
lunar 267
In early Lemuria, Will enabled man to frustrate God's
plan and caused all our pain and suffering 362
It is the force ensouling thought 89
WoRLDSouL ; symbolically crucified 85
Word!
The Word made flesh; the Great Creative Fiat 181
The cries of the Moon period beings the first echo of the
creative fiat 219
Verbal expression of thought our highest human achieve-
ment and privilege 236
The larynx was originally part of the creative organ
sometime it will give back in full "the lost Word"
the creative Fiat 269, 364, 425
INDEX 589
PAGE
Worlds.
The necessity of dividing matter into Worlds 29
How the homogeneous primordial matter is disposed in
different manner to form various worlds 187, 375
The beginning, purpose and end of worlds 188
There are worlds denser than the Physical World 233
Each planet has three worlds; the Physical World, the
Desire World and the World of Thought 53
The threefold planets of a solar system swim in a sea
of matter from a fourth world: the World of Life
Spirit 55
All the solar systems swim in a sea of matter from the
World of Divine Spirit which links them 55
Illustration to show this relationship 53
Why some worlds are invisible to most people though per-
ceived clearly by others 24
Why we should endeavor to investigate those worlds 27
Eegiox.
A subdivision of any of the Worlds 30
The ('hemical Region, the Etheric Region. Main divisions
of the Physical World 30
The Region of Concrete Thought, the Region of Abstract
Thought. Main divisions of the World of Thought. . 30
Physical World.
The chemical region consists of solids, liquids and the
gases which are the basis of form 30
The etheric region consists of four ethers which are the
avenue of life vitalizing form 32, 35, 38
The Physical World is the realm of form; why color and
tone are foreign to thereto 119
Value of Physical World aa a school of experience 32
Chemical Ether.
It is the avenue of the forces which accomplish assimila-
tion, the so-called clrad among them 35. 126
Ripe at seventh year when vital body is born 143
Life Ether.
Is the avenue of propagation 36
It is ripe at the 14th year when child becomes adolescent
and capable of reproduction 143
590 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Forces working in positive pole produces males in the
negative pole females 36
Light Ether.
Is our avenue of sense perception, the forces in positive
pole generate warm blood in negative cold blood 36
Clorophyl and circulation of sap in plants 37
Reflecting Ether.
Storehouse of the memory of nature and of man 37
Ego makes impression on brain by this ether 38, 89
Alediums and psychometrists read events there 38
Desire World.
Is preeminently the realm of light and color; forms are
extremely unstable but tone is sweeter than here, yet
not native to this world 119
The luminous desirestuff is disposed in seven regions or
states of varying density as force-matter 39
Purgatory is in the three densest states of the Desire-
world, the First Heaven in the three upper and be-
tween them a Borderland of monotony 112
The twin forces and twin feelings of the Desire World. . . 42
Repulsion.
One of the twin forces of the Desire World tending to
purge us from evil and destroy it 43
It is dominant in the three lower regions 42
Illustration of its operation 46
How it operates in our thought activity 89
Attraction.
One of the twin forces of the Desire World 42
Attraction builds virtue when Repulsion has shattered
vice 47
Illustration of its operation 46
Its influence on our thought activity 89
Heredity discounted 156
Interest and Indifference.
The twin feelings indigenous to the 4th region of the
Desire World 45
Illustration of their operation 46, 89
How mathematics raises one above the realm of feeling. . 203
INDEX 591
PAGE
World of Thought.
It is preeminently the sphere of music or toiie, as color
is indigenous to the Desire World and form to the
Physical World 119
The Great Silence is the portal to this realm of Sound. . 122
The region of Concrete Thought embraces the four densest
subdivisions where Archetypes and Archetypal Forces
are forming matter 49, 50
The Eegion of Abstract Thought comprises the three
highest subdivisions where ideas are generated 51
Diagram of the Seven Worlds 54
WORLD PERIODS; THE SEVEN (topical).
Practical value of knowing cosmogony thoroughly 202
The World Periods are way stations on the evolutionary
journey of the spirit through matter 190
Why this pilgrimage was undertaken and its fruits. . . .87, 429
Saturn Period.
Activity in any Period starts in the preceding Cosmic
Night 207
Location of the seven globes; they were dark and hot
as incipient firemist 205
The Bible also mentions this dark stage 321, 322
There was only one element: heat or incipient fire 234
Man went through a mineral like existence and had a
trance like consciousness 206, 212
The path of evolution described 195
Lords of Flame radiate germ of dense body and awaken
divine spirit in man 206
There were some stragglers left behind 224
The Lords of Mind were human then and worked with us
as we work with present minerals 222, 427
Sun Period.
Location of the seven globes, they were light balls 210
There were two elements ; fire an<l air 234
Bible description of the Sun Period and how it is
scientifically possible to have light prior to the crea-
tion of sun and moon 328
Man went through a period of plantlike existence and
had a consciousness like deep sleep 213
592 KOSICKUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
The path of evolution described 198
Lords of Wisdom aid in reconstruction of dense body,
glands and alimentary canal begin gcrminally and
vital body has its inception as a thoughtform 211
The Cherubim waken life spirit 211
Saturn stragglers awakened and become plantlike 224
The present animals started evolution in Sun Period
and were minerals then 224
The Archangels were human in the Sun Period; they
work with both animal and man 222, 349
Moon Period.
Location of the seven globes, they were water and the
atmosphere was a steamy firefog 213
There were three elements; fire, air and water 234, 328
The Bible describes the dense water and firefog 328
Man-in-the-making went through a period of animal-like
existence; he had internal picture consciousness like
dreams 217
At that time the divine consciousness of the spirit was
entirely obscured self-consciousness incipient 216
Lords of Individuality reconstruct dense and vital bodies,
skeleton, muscles and nerves had inception 214
Lords of Individuality give desirebody as a thought form,
Seraphim awaken human spirit 215
Moon beings hung suspended in atmosphere and had hori-
zontal spines like animals now 228
A division of the globe took place at close of Moon
Period and smaller part became satellite 218
Origin of birds' migrations and honeymoon trips 219
The divided parts merged in Cosmic Night between Moon
and Earth Periods 220
List of classes which started in Moon Period 226
The Angels were human then and work now with plant,
animal and man 222, 349
Present plants were minerals then, parasites are strag-
glers 227, 228
Lucifer Spirits are stragglers from lifewave of Angels. . 286
Earth Period.
We have made 3l^ revolutions of the Earth Period 199
INDEX 593
PAGE
The nadir of density in our evolution was reached here
on earth, but there are worlds denser still 199, 233
"We have now four elements 234
Bible description of recapitulations 329
Reconstruction of dense body to adapt it to mind 239
Reconstruction of vital body by Angels 240
Desirebody reconstructed by Archangels 242
Mind was given by Lords of Mind 222
The descending spirit meeting the ascending form in the
focusing mind marks the birth of the thinking
human being 267
The mind is now in its mineral stage, dead, hence we
work with dead minerals 426. 428
Classes of beings at beginning of Earth Period ; the
minerals entered evolution here 234
Jupiter Period.
The Earth will become etheric and globes will be dis-
posed as they were in the Moon Period 199
There will be five elements, the 5th described 234
The vital body will be our densest vehicle 240, 242
It will reach highest perfection 422
The dense body will be transmuted and compounded with
the vital body 422
The mind will become alive 427
Then we shall work with plant life 298. 428
We shall have an objective picture consciousness, and be
capable of impressing pictures on other minds 418
The human spirit, the Ego will be prominent 425
The animals will be human 70, 224
Venus Period.
The globes will be located as in Sun Period 199
Consciousness of Venus Period descrilied 419
The desire body will be perfected 422
The essences of the perfected dense and vital bodies will
be compounded therewith 423
The Intellectual soul will be absorbed by the Life Spirit.
which will be most active principle then 423. 425
The mind will then acquire feeling and we shall create
living and feeling forms 427, 428
594 KOSICHUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
The plants will l)c human, the present mineral uill be
animal 226
Vulcan Period.
Globes will be located as in Saturn Period 200
We shall have highest Spiritual, Creative Consciousness. . . 421
The Mind will be perfected and compounded with essences
of threefold body 422, 423
It will be able to propagate itself and create living, mov-
ing, thinking forms for present mineral which will
then be human 427, 428
The divine spirit will be particularly active 423
The Emotional soul will be absorbed by Human Spirit. . . . 423
The Creative Word (chapter) 425
Eevolutions and Periods defined 196
Eecapitxjlation.
Spirals within spirals 321
The meaning and necessity of recapitulation 208
Work pertaining to any Period delayed till previous
phases of evolution have been recapitulated 209
How described in Bible 329
Cosmic Nights ok Chaos.
Eeason for Cosmic Nights and death 244
Activity of any Period starts in middle of preceding Cos-
mic Night as a life commences at conception. . . .250, 207
Thus it is not a period of inactivity 208
The work in cosmic night defined and described 196, 200
There are cosmic nights between revolutions also 207
The activity there described 243
Life and form merge in Chaos, only seedatoms of world-
globes persi-fit 247
Comnenius coined the word ' ' gas ' ' to represent spirit
and Chaos 251
Chaos, Cosmos, Genius and Epigenesis (chapter) 252
PoLARiAx Epoch.
It was a recapitulation of the Saturn Period 263
The matter which is now the separate Earth was then in
the polar region of the sun 261
The dense body began to crystallize as mineral 165
INDEX 595
PAGE
Propagation by fission, the pineal gland was then a local-
ized organ of feeling 262
The Bible on the Polarian Epoch 330
Hyperborean Epoch.
Angels and Lords of Form clothe humanity with vital
body; mankind was therefore plant-like 263
Cain, the second epoch, man is represented as an agri-
culturist 165, 166
Skeleton formed in end of Hyperborean Epoch and was
soft as cartilage 346
Towards end of this epoch the earth was expelled from
sun 263
The Bible on that event 330
Lemurian Epoch.
The Moon expelled from earth in beginning Lemuria 26-i
Atmosphere of firefog, boiling seas, giant fern forests and
animals 275
A division also took place in the desire body 235, 395
The skeleton hardened under lunar forces 275, 346
Then the sexes separated 268
Lords of Mind gave germinal mind and impregnated
higher part of desirebody therewith 243
Archangels work in lower part of desirebody 236, 243
When born man had hearing and feeling, he used his
body unconsciously 276, 277
He saw himself and others inwardli/ 277, 283
Propagation directed by Angels in harmony with the
stars. Then parturition was painless 277
Sexrelation brought consciousness of dense body when
"Adam knew his wife".. 283
Lucifer Spirits appeared to Lemurian woman's inner con-
sciousness prompting to self assertion 287
When their eyes were opened thoy became aware of loss
of body at death and ignorance of stellar lore
caused them to propagate at wrong times, so parturi-
tion has become painful 283
Memory was first developed by Lemurian girls 280
Science and Art were taught in Lemurian schools of Ini-
tiation conducted by Lords of Mercury 271, 281
506 ROSICBUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION
PAGE
Lords of Venus were leaders of masses 272
Greatest number of Leinurians remained animal-like.,.. 289
Reason for rise and fall of nations 289
The sixteen races from latter part of Lemuria to be-
ginning of New Gallilee 271
Negroes are the remnant of Lemurian race 304
Atlantean Epoch.
Mind was unfolded by food 166
Atlantean Epoch, the 6th day of Creation 322
Inner heat of globe and outer cold gave foggy at-
mosphere 291
In early Atlantis man had an inner perception, but did
not see outward things clearly 293
When later atmosphere cleared he lost touch with spiritual
world 294
The Atlantean Eaces.
(1) The Emoahals
Developed sensation, could feel pleasure, pain, sympathy
and antipathy; their word had magic power 294
(2) The Tlavatlis
Became ambitious, remembered great deeds of leaders, de-
veloped germ of royalty 295
(3) The Toltecs
Started monarchy. Hereditary succession was reasonable
then, as father could transfer faculties to son 296
(4) The Original Turanians
Abused power over lower classes ; were idolaters 297
(5) The Original Semites
They were a chosen people, the seed race for our Aryan
races 298, 334
They were to evolve thought and were the last race for-
bidden to marry outside family 299, 355
But some did that and are the present Jews 309, 335, 355
Then the atmosphere cleared and water filled seas 300
The Gods withdrew, giving man freewill and making him
responsible to law of consequence 301, 355
(6) I'he Akkadians and
(7) The Mongolians
Evolved thought farther, but became unadaptable....... 303
LNDEX 597
PAGE
The Jews.
How patriotism has retarded their progress 313
And why Christ Avas born a Jew 313
How the tribes were lost and how they will be saved. .314, 335
America tfie melting pot of amalgamation and emancipa-
tion for all races; the cradle of a new people 315
Aryan Epoch.
The Ego begins to shine 165
Noah and the wine 168
The new chosen people 305, 311
Anglo Saxons are the 5th of Aryan Races 304, 305
INDEX OF DIAGRAMS AND TABLES.
No. Page
16 — The Lord 's Prayer Frontispiece
The Four Kingdoms and Their Relation to the Three
Worlds 16
1 — Relative Permanency of the Visible and Invisible Worlds 52
2— The Seven Worlds 54
3 — Vehicles of the Four Kingdoms 73
4 — Consciousness of the Four Kingdoms 74
Seven-fold Constitution of ]Man 88
5— Three-fold Spirit, Soul, and Body 95
514— The Silver Cord 98
A Life Cycle 146
6 — The Supreme Being, the Cosmic Planes, and God 178
7— The Saturn Period 193
8 — 7 Worlds, 7 Globes, and 7 Periods 197
9 — The Twelve Creative Hierarchies 221
Classes at Dawn of Moon Period 226
10 — Classes at Dawn of Earth Period; their vehicles and
status then; and their present status 230
11— The 1, 3, 7 and 10 Aspects of God and Man 252b
Table of Vibrations 254
12 — Man's Past, Present, and Future Form 257
13 — The Beginning and Ending of Sex 364
Seven Days of Creation 366
14 — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; their vehicles and status
in the Universe 377
' ' As Above, so Below " 410
Days of Week and Correspondences 411
15 — Symbolism of the Caduceus 413
Classification of the Animal Kingdom 416
Periods and Corresponding Consciousness 421
Tables of Food Values 450-1
17 — Transmutation of Sex-currents 475
18— Constitution of the Earth 509
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